Nine-year-old Griffin Macdonald has been granted an early Christmas wish: His design for a festive greeting card is flying off the shelves and raising funds for a local charity.
The Cayman International School student started a drawing company with friends, intending to create some handmade Christmas cards and sell them lemonade stand-style in aid of Feed Our Future. The charity struck a chord with Griffin after representatives gave a talk at his school.
Zoe Wall of Creations Unlimited, the George Town photography and printing studio, heard about his plan through a friend and was impressed by Griffin’s artwork. “I thought we could take it to another level and make it into a real card,” she says.
After securing the support of Lucy Beighton, owner of Creations Unlimited, and retail partner Books & Books, Zoe approached Griffin with the offer.
“We covered all expenses and Books & Books agreed to stock it in the store and not take a cent,” Zoe explains. “I love how as an island we have pulled together to give an amazing opportunity to a very talented young boy, while ensuring every cent goes towards a charity he really believes in.
“I hope everyone can support this great cause and make Christmas a little more special for everyone.”
Griffin’s design puts a decidedly Caymanian slant on the Christmas theme, depicting a palm tree hung with festive decorations. He began drawing in pencil, allowing him to adjust and erase lines, before outlining the sketch in thin black sharpie and finishing with colored pencils.
Who needs fir trees when you have palms?
The cards are priced at $4.50 and proceeds from each sale will be used to provide a healthy meal for a child in need in the community. Feed our Future’s mission is to solve childhood hunger and support intellectual nourishment in the Cayman Islands. One of the key ways it does this is by funding a nutritionally balanced lunch program, which provides low cost or free school meals to those most in need.
Stacey VanDevelde, chairwoman of Feed Our Future, says, “Feed Our Future is fortunate to have many generous supporters, big and small. We are so proud of Griffin for the compassion shown towards less fortunate children in our islands. No child should go hungry during the holidays or at any other time of year.”
Once the cards arrived from the printers in mid-November, Griffin helped to fold them and pair them up with the envelopes, stocking the shelves at Books & Books.
And his reaction to seeing the finished product? “I feel really good about the cards and I hope they all sell so everyone can have a great Christmas!”
