Local Voices: Four Interns and a Truck

Every time I bring up the subject of "Art Heals - Restoring Joy to Joplin" I get goose bumps! The donations are still pouring in and the amount of interest is staggering!

OK—so some of you may not have any idea what I'm talking about. Here is the short version:  has adopted two art classrooms in Joplin to help rebuild them after the destructive tornadoes. Mrs. Jessica Halstead is the teacher for both classrooms—one at Irving Elementary School and one at Emerson Elementary School in the . Both schools were destroyed and we want to help put them back together, one crayon at a time.

Where there is little humor in the situation in Joplin, we at Chesterfield Arts have found humor in collecting and organizing the donations. Our fabulous interns, Adam, Morgan, Rosie and Drew have been the peons and have lifted, moved, re-boxed, color-coordinated and sorted the not-so-great from the great. In the process, we have found that Adam enjoys wearing a trash can on his head when he can't find his biking hat. Drew was surprised by the fact that Christmas decorations and candles could be considered art supplies. And Morgan, the quietest of them all, was heard yelling in our backroom as she found more and more and more reams of paper to separate.

A wonderful company, Dunham & Smith Agencies, saw Jenn Petrowsky, our marketing manager, on Fox 2 News. They are consolidating their offices across the country, which means closing their St. Louis office. In the process, they have office supplies galore to donate...colored paper by the ream, markers, file folders, staplers, and every other office supply you can think of.  When I went downtown to pick-up what I thought would be a few boxes, I ended up filling not only my van, but my friend Donna's van as well. WOW! The generosity is overwhelming.

We get phone calls daily from companies and individuals looking to help and will be collecting through this Friday, Aug. 5.  We plan on delivering the art supplies to Joplin and Mrs. Halstead on Thursday, Aug. 11.  Some other collection locations are: , , O'Fallon YMCA and Centene Center.

Click here for Mrs. Halstead's "Wish List."

If you would like to help us load the truck, graciously donated by , please call Jennifer Petrowsky at 636-519-1955.  We are excited to see the results of our hard work on the faces of the kids in Joplin.