A little more colour has been added to the lives of some disadvantaged children.
The local author of a hit colouring book has donated a set of them to the Prince George branch of Big Brothers-Big Sisters. Witek Radomski sent a care package containing 10 copies of Legendary Landscapes, the advanced-level colouring book he and his fiance Carrie Wong created last year.
"We absolutely love what the organization does. Mentoring can make a huge impact on a child growing up. I was lucky to have great mentors and role models myself growing up," Radomski said.
"Colouring books can be a great way to open up conversation and ideas. I spent the summer in 2014 teaching a friend's young daughter how to draw, ink the drawings and colour, and she truly loved colouring the drawings for hours, being very talkative while we were making art. I've found the same thing with kids who can be very shy. They open up and talk about all their amazing ideas when colouring. I also know Tim (Bennett) who is the executive director at Big Brothers-Big Sisters. We went to elementary school and high school together - at Spruceland elementary and Lakewood junior high (now Lac des Bois elementary school)."
The books did not arrive alone, however. Radomski's father Adam realized colouring books need colouring tools, so he approached Staples. The local branch of the store provided 10 sets of pencil crayons to accompany the books.
"We will look at giving them to some of our mentors and matches, our after-school program, but we also might auction one or two of them off to support the operation of our organization," said Cassie Lobban, the operations and events co-ordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
"It is also great that helping our kids also spreads the word about the power of art and the work of a local artist."
Radomski did not disclose to the group that the donation of the books came at a time when he could have easily sold them for his own profit. The book was released in November and the first run was sold out in the Christmas retail rush. Its second printing is already thinning thanks to provincewide sales at outlets like London Drugs, which supported the project heavily. In Prince George the book is also available at Books & Company.
