It’s only November and already the Orange Bay Company is getting into the holiday spirit by kicking off a campaign to raise more than $20,000 for a children’s art programme.

The home furnishing and accessories store has just launched the Paint and Possibilities campaign to benefit the Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation (KAF).

Orange Bay Company is calling on local businesses and individuals to make donations to help fund KAF’s Art and Me programme, which provides art classes to children from participating public primary and middle schools who have limited access to visual arts education. A donation of $290 will fund one child’s enrollment in the programme for one academic term; $870 is enough to fund that child’s enrollment for a full academic year. The goal is to raise approximately $20,300 to provide 70 students with classes for a year.

“Since we started Orange Bay Company in 2009, it’s been part of our mission to help encourage better living for everyone in our community,” said Delight Morris, co-owner of Orange Bay Company. “This year, we are focused on helping enrich the lives of Bermuda’s kids by helping improve their access to arts education. Learning art skills and appreciation helps enhance a child’s education in so many ways that it’s disheartening to know that the opportunity for many students to express their creativity, build self-confidence and learn through visual arts has been scaled back at many schools. Without art, a child’s education isn’t truly well-rounded, which can limit their potential in their life and career, affecting our entire community.”

Fiona Rodriguez Roberts, KAF’s Founder and Director, said she was pleased that KAF’s Art and Me programme had been selected.

“Art can play a significant role in empowering and enriching the lives of young people,” Ms Rodriguez Roberts said. “It teaches the joy of hard work, and using creativity for one’s own fulfillment and external recognition. It imparts lessons about the importance of quality and pride in one’s workmanship. Academically, art teaches children about spatial relationships and how to solve problems through visualisation. From the perspective of sociology, the discussion and creation of art necessarily involves an examination of the human experience, war and peace, emotions, work and play, the individual within the community, nature and the environment. In these and many other ways, art is an essential part of a good education. And it is the intention of the Art and Me programme to expose as many of our kids to the joys and lessons of art as we can.”

This year, the Art and Me programme will work with students from West Pembroke Primary, Victor Scott Primary, Prospect Primary and Dellwood Middle School.

Every individual and business who makes a donation of $870 or more to the Paint and Possibilities campaign will be acknowledged in a public advertisement at the conclusion of the campaign.

“Although it takes $870 to send one child to KAF for a year, you don’t need to give that much to help make a difference,” said Mrs Morris. “A donation in any amount is welcome and will assist us in reaching our campaign goal $20,300 to help 70 kids.”

Those interested in participating in the Paint and Possibilities campaign can contact Orange Bay Company at 504-5400 or by e-mail at info@orangebaycompany.com.