Spare change
To the editor:
Any time I travel to a new town my tendency is to learn about the history of the community. And visiting the history museum of the town is a good place to learn about the past, present and future of the people in that town.
During this past summer I had time to explore the town of Spartanburg in South Carolina, and in one of my daily adventures I visited the Spartanburg Regional History Museum. While I was there I was fortunate to experience “Through the Eyes of the Homeless” exhibit.
Before the exhibit, the homeless in the town were given disposable cameras to photograph their world. Afterwards, the pictures were developed and a designated wall in the history museum was used to display the photographs for each artist. Underneath each framed photograph a locked mailbox was placed with the phrase “spare change.”
At the end of the exhibition each artist was able to keep all the spare change that the public had placed inside each mailbox. The culmination after a month of exhibition was an auction in which the artists’ photographs were auctioned to the highest bidder. The proceeds generated by the auction went to the ministry that was helping the homeless.
If you would like to learn more about the art project go to throughoureyesproject.com for further information.
Just like it is written on our Pine Island flag “community rooted in caring,” this model project can be implemented by any religious or non-religious organization with the calling and the passion for it in Pine Island.
Poverty is a growing epidemic in America and the American dream is becoming an impossible dream. Let’s empower our homeless by making them self-sufficient instead of giving them a hand-out.
Cesar Sanchez, aka Popo
Bokeelia