10-Year-Old Girl Sends 1,500 Art Kits To Children Stuck In Shelters And Foster Homes During Pandemic

A 10-year-old Connecticut girl is sending art kits to hundreds of children across the country to help them cope with the harsh realities of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chelsea Phaire of Danbury says art went from being a hobby to her therapy when she lost her swim instructor to gun violence when she was only 8.

In August 2019, she and her parents launched Chelsea's Charity when she asked guests at her 10th birthday party to donate art supplies in lieu of gifts for herself.

In the first five months, Chelsea and her mom sent out nearly 1,000 kits to children in homeless shelters, foster care homes, women's shelters and schools impacted by gun violence.

"I feel good inside knowing how happy they are when they get their art kits," she told CNN.

When the global pandemic triggered a nationwide shutdown, Phaire and her mom ramped up operations, sending over 1,500 kits to schools, shelters, and foster homes in 12 states across the U.S.

"Now with Covid-19, a lot of kids in shelters and also children in foster homes might not have access to art supplies they usually find in school," Candace Phaire, Chelsea's mom, told CNN. "It's also mental health awareness month, so that's definitely motivating us to ramp it up send even more kits."

Since March, when schools began to close, the family has sent over 1,500 kits to schools, shelters, and foster homes in 12 states across the U.S.

The kits include markers, crayons, paper, coloring books, colored pencils and gel pens.

"Now my dream is to meet every kid in the entire world and give them art," Phaire says. "Who knows, maybe if we do that and then our kids do that, we'll have world peace!"