Arcata Arts Institute student Marisa Mendosa found a creative way to connect her fellow students and raise more than $800 for Food for People!

As last school year was winding down, and students were forced to isolate and study from home due to the pandemic shutdown, it occurred to Marisa that students wouldn’t be able to sign yearbooks during the last week of school. “That incredibly sad realization caused me to ponder what I could do to provide a solution. Additionally, I had read stories regarding other young people helping their communities during the pandemic and I came up with an idea to address both issues.” With a talent for graphic design, she created cards that students could send to their friends in lieu of physically signing yearbooks. The idea is the cards can be kept in the yearbook to look back on in the future. She created a website to allow for easy ordering and noted that all proceeds would be donated to Food for People! This year’s exchange student Nina Catherine, from Indonesia, also added a few cards of her own design. Together, they created 10 different versions. You can view the cards at mmmeigraphics.square.site

Understanding that some students do not have much money, she allowed anyone to order one card for free or up to 10 cards with a donation to Food for People. In order to give100% of the proceeds to Food for People, Marisa paid the printing costs out of my own pocket.

Thank you, Marisa! We are inspired by your creativity, talent, and compassion for our community!