A Hundred Hearts for Hope Unites Artists in Fight Against Cancer

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(Free-Press-Release.com) January 24, 2007 -- When artist Shannon Reinbold-Gee stood in the children�s oncology suite with her mother�lost�she was struck by the dichotomy she witnessed. Although the children there were facing down one of the deadliest diseases mankind has ever battled, they were drawing and coloring and playing. They were embracing life even as they fought against death. That was in the summer of 2005. Since then Shannon�s mother lost a leg to cancer, and through that experience, cancer has truly changed the lives in an entire family.

So when Shannon realized she could help raise money to support the fight against cancer by using her cutpaper art, she developed the idea for �A Hundred Hearts for Hope.� With the help of papercutters throughout the United States and Germany the number of papercut hearts has climbed throughout January to nearly 90, with more arriving daily.

�We�re getting there,� says Reinbold-Gee. �People from 16 different states and two countries are being represented in this project. Some artists are professionals like Dena Levie (whose art hangs in the homes of Spielberg and other Hollywood-types) and Ursula Kirchner of Germany. Some are amateurs and even some children have given their time to the project! And the artists get nothing�except for the satisfaction of knowing they are using their talent to help others. Their gift as a gift.�

Currently the Hearts are posted on a MySpace account Shannon established only for this cause. �I chose MySpace because, out of all the blogs I�ve checked out, MySpace has the greatest amount of traffic. And for an endeavor like this to succeed, I need people to be aware it exists. If you go to http://www.myspace.com/a_hundred_hearts_for_hope you can see the Hearts we�ve been getting in the �Movies� section. I�m still posting, scanning and photographing. It�s a big job for me, but I have great support.�

Shannon says her husband, Karl Gee, (a teacher) has helped keep her sane. Her brother, Morgan Reinbold, (an artist) is also helping by giving advice about navigating MySpace and getting traffic to the site.

Shannon has also decided that although the MySpace account is great, she�ll be opening a new account at: http://www.blogcharm.com/AHundredHeartsForHope/ only because some people (and organizations) block MySpace.

Starting February 1, Hearts will be posted on eBay for auction. 84% of the money raised will go to a group that specializes in cancer research and treatment. 10% will be donated to the Guild of American Papercutters, a non-profit tax-exempt group striving to educate the public about the art and rich history of papercutting. The remaining 6% will be used for eBay fees and possibly kept to produce �advertising� for the event next year.

�It takes real people to make a real difference and I hope that I can make a few �ripples in the pond� and get other people to do whatever they can, too. Help from such talented people�it�s great.� Reinbold-Gee says all the Hearts will start at only .99 on eBay February 1.