MRHS Students Create Memories for Disadvantaged Children

A group of Matawan Regional High School art students are designing their way into the hearts of struggling children from disadvantaged countries through The Memory Project.

The Memory Project is a non-profit initiative that challenges art students to create portraits of children and teenagers from around the world who have been orphaned, neglected or disadvantaged.

Matawan Regional High School art students created portraits of children orphaned in Ecuador. The young artists may use any format they wish, including colored pencils, acryllic paints and pastels.

The goal of The Memory Project is to give impoverished children a special and personal gift that they can hold on to.

This is not the first year that MRHS has participated in The Memory Project, however it is the first time that fifteen talented students volunteered, said Barbara Barnes, the art teacher who oversees the initiative. 

The process is simple, but the reward is great, she explained. The students have the opportunity to use their artistic ability to bring a glimpse of happiness into another young adult's life. The students select the photo they feel a connection to, which creates an emotional bond between the two.

Matt Gilliard, a senior at MRHS, was captivated by a boy who looked like he was struggling. 

"He had the most expression on his face. I could see the trouble in his face," Gilliard said. "I changed the background and made it more happy so it would cheer him up a little bit."

Gilliard chose to create the portrait using acryllic paint, and is now in the process of raising money to mail the portrait to the child in Ecuador.

It only costs $15, Barnes said, but the students put their work on display in the cafeteria and have been raising money during lunch to pay the $225 total in postage.

The portraits must arrive by Feb. 1, and the children are photographed with their new portraits. The photographs are then sent back to the art students as a thank you for their efforts.