A New Westminster tattoo shop is showing a little love to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Happy Buddha Tattoo recent held a flash sale on specially created designs and donated 50 per cent of the proceeds to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The Feb. 16 sale featured designs including hearts, angels and roses.
“In total, we raised $880 that we are donating to the Heart and Stroke Foundation,” said manager Tylor Mackenzie. “We will be doing other things like this in the future.”
Amber Wilson, an apprentice at Happy Buddha Tattoo, recently proposed the fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation after her father died of a sudden heart attack. In addition to Wilson, artists Nicholas Frenette and Aly Brooke drew up the designs that were offered at set prices, and artist Nicholas Lavides joined them in tattooing clients at the fundraiser.
When the doors opened at 10 a.m., clients were already waiting outside the business at 445 Columbia St., with word of the flash sale having been spread through Instagram, Facebook and word of mouth.
“It was a big mixed bag. We had a lot of returning faces but then we had a lot of new people that came in and said they’d never been to a tattoo shop before and they were doing it to support the fundraiser,” MacKenzie said. “We had a good handful of people that were saying, ‘this is our first tattoo and we are doing it for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.’”
Happy Buddha Tattoo was thrilled with the response to the recent sale and expects to offer more flash sale fundraisers in the future.
“I think it’s probably going to happen every few months or so,” MacKenzie said. “We are going to think of something, probably around holiday times and somewhere to donate.”
