Two local women are combining their creative juices to raise funds for a cause close to their hearts.
Jennifer Pistor and Kait DeWolff have teamed up on A Hart for the Cause, which is raising funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Society. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Canada.
“Unfortunately, in the summertime I found out that my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had been going through it for a little bit but waited to tell the family,” Pistor says. “When I found out, I went through all the classic emotions. I was upset and sad. I was angry and frustrated.”
Along with her aunt’s battle with breast cancer, Pistor’s mother-in-law and a family friend are breast cancer survivors.
“I just felt like I wanted to do something. I was tired of being mad and wanted to do something about it,” says the New Westminster resident. “I started thinking about what I would do for a fundraising idea. A print came into my mind.”
Pistor, a Saskatchewan native, works in social media and writes the Prairie Girl in the City blog. While both women live in New West, they met when Pistor hired DeWolff to design her website – and then asked her to collaborate on the fundraiser.
“I had an idea but I knew I couldn’t actually make any of that happen. It wasn’t going to be pretty if I did it,” Pistor laughs. “I got together with Kait, we had a coffee and had this great chat. One of her aunts had gone through it as well, so it really resonated with her. We had a couple of creative meetings, chatted about it and a print was born.”
DeWolff, who works in web and graphic design, was eager to take part in the project.
“I think cancer is one of those things that touches so many people. It’s not just the person that is fighting the cancer, it is their families and everything like that,” she says. “I have had cancer in my family, it’s breast cancer too. I even had a friend in high school who was 17 and had to have a double mastectomy. It hits all ages. It’s important to see that people care.”
A New Westminster native, DeWolff ran the New Westminster Salmonbellies women’s team for seven years. In her work life, she specializes in web and graphic design and creates and sells greeting cards and art prints through KaitCreative.
“She got me to come on and paint her idea. Jennifer had pretty much thought about the concept. She asked me what I thought. I thought it was perfect,” says DeWolff. “It was pink, the colour of the charity. It’s a heart. It was really nice to think of something people could hold on to.”
While a pink ribbon is the symbol often associated with breast cancer, the duo sought to create a design that was universal and beautiful. The result is A Hart for the Cause – which combines a Heart with Art.
“Our goal was to find a simple and lovely way for you to donate to this amazing cause. We have designed a watercolour print of the ultimate symbol of love, a heart. There is so much symbolism with this one simple shape. The heart itself simply means love,’” say the duo in a statement about the project. “The pink, of course represents the charity colour, its imperfections represents the beauty of imperfections in all of us, and the ombre is for our hope of fading out the effects of this disease through early detection and one day a cure.”
Throughout October, the print is available locally at Brick and Mortar Living (which also stocks DeWolff’s cards and prints) and Lofty Living, and through DeWolff’s Etsy shop. The prints are $20, with all funds going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Society.
