A Bedford man is on a one-man mission to cultivate creativity in struggling North Texas families.
Dan Grunewald created “Crayons for Kids” out of his apartment when he realized at times something as simple as a box of crayons can be too expensive for a family living paycheck to paycheck.
“My friend made a comment about their students and how they go home and they don’t have art supplies to complete class assignments,” Grunewald explained. “They don't have crayons, paper, pencils - any of that sort."
Grunewald said it sparked an idea and a passion that blossomed into “Crayons for Kids.”
"I think art is incredibly important for this group of children. They live vastly in poverty. Their parents are stressed about money and that's picked up on by kids,” he said. "It's a family of 3 or 4 getting by on $12,000 a year or $15,000 a year."
He put out the call to friends, family and strangers and they quickly responded.
"At this point we raised about $1,800 coming from about two dozen different people from across the country," he said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Now his apartment has been transformed into an artist’s escape with piles of crayon boxes, pads and colored pencils.
"So far we raised enough money to buy these school supplies to furnish every child at my friend's elementary school with supplies for home," Grunewald said.
Soon, 360 students will receive the gifts to take some with them during winter break.
“Now every kindergartner through third grade will have a box of crayons and a pad of paper and every 4th and 5th grader gets a box of pencils and a pad of paper,” he said. “And a pencil sharpener too -- to make sure they can keep using them.”
Grunewald doesn’t want the students to know where they came from; just that someone cares.
"At the very least it's a way kids can express their feelings. That maybe they don't have a vocabulary for yet," he said. "That they're valued and that they can create without judgment.”
He hopes this could grow into something more and hopefully get more schools involved to help more children.
A Bedford man is on a one-man mission to cultivate creativity in struggling North Texas families.
Dan Grunewald created “Crayons for Kids” out of his apartment when he realized sometimes something as simple as a box of crayons is too expensive for a family living pay check to pay check.
“My friend made a comment about their students and how they go home and they don’t have art supplies to complete class assignments,” Grunewald explained. “They don't have crayons, paper, pencils - any of that sort."
Grunewald said it sparked an idea and a passion that blossomed into “Crayons for Kids.”
"I think art is incredibly important for this group of children. They live vastly in poverty. Their parents are stressed about money and that's picked up on by kids,” he said. "It's a family of 3 or 4 getting by on $12,000 a year or $15,000 a year."
He put out the call to friends, family and strangers and they quickly responded.
"At this point we raised about $1,800 coming from about two dozen different people from across the country," he said.
Now his apartment has been transformed into an artist’s escape with piles of crayon boxes, pads and colored pencls.
"So far we raised enough money to buy these school supplies to furnish every child at my friend's elementary school with supplies for home," Grunewald said.
360 students will receive the gifts to take some with them during winter break.
“Now every kindergartener through third grade will have a box of crayons and a pad of paper and every 4th and 5th grader gets a box of pencils and a pad of paper,” he said. “And a pencil sharpener to -- to make sure they can keep using them.”
Grunewald doesn’t want the students to know where they came from – just that someone cares.
"At the very least it's a way kids can express their feelings. That maybe they don't have a vocabulary for yet," he said. "That they're valued and that they can create without judgment.”
He hopes this could grow into something more and hopefully get more schools involved to help more children.
A Bedford man is on a one-man mission to cultivate creativity in struggling North Texas families.
Dan Grunewald created “Crayons for Kids” out of his apartment when he realized sometimes something as simple as a box of crayons is too expensive for a family living pay check to pay check.
“My friend made a comment about their students and how they go home and they don’t have art supplies to complete class assignments,” Grunewald explained. “They don't have crayons, paper, pencils - any of that sort."
Grunewald said it sparked an idea and a passion that blossomed into “Crayons for Kids.”
"I think art is incredibly important for this group of children. They live vastly in poverty. Their parents are stressed about money and that's picked up on by kids,” he said. "It's a family of 3 or 4 getting by on $12,000 a year or $15,000 a year."
He put out the call to friends, family and strangers and they quickly responded.
"At this point we raised about $1,800 coming from about two dozen different people from across the country," he said.
Now his apartment has been transformed into an artist’s escape with piles of crayon boxes, pads and colored pencls.
"So far we raised enough money to buy these school supplies to furnish every child at my friend's elementary school with supplies for home," Grunewald said.
360 students will receive the gifts to take some with them during winter break.
“Now every kindergartener through third grade will have a box of crayons and a pad of paper and every 4th and 5th grader gets a box of pencils and a pad of paper,” he said. “And a pencil sharpener to -- to make sure they can keep using them.”
Grunewald doesn’t want the students to know where they came from – just that someone cares.
"At the very least it's a way kids can express their feelings. That maybe they don't have a vocabulary for yet," he said. "That they're valued and that they can create without judgment.”
He hopes this could grow into something more and hopefully get more schools involved to help more children.
