At Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove, juniors Alyssa Jordan Perez and Jaslyn Ng have used their hobby to positively impact their community.

The Art for Charity Club, started this year, is an initiative that creates unique art pieces to donate to charities and organizations such as animal shelters, senior homes, hospitals and more.

Their first project is donating to the Elk Grove Animal Shelter.  They are asking members to take an animal from the shelter – such as a dog, cat or bunny – and recreate it in their own art style.  The ultimate goal? To draw attention to these vulnerable animals and increase their chances of finding forever homes, especially for older dogs and cats, who face greater challenges in finding adopters.

Art For Charity creates artwork in a wide variety of mediums.  Although canvas and paper are preferred for projects, the club also produces sculptures, cards, letters and more.

“Art has been such a big part of the world in general – how we’ve used it to motivate and encourage others through hard times,” said club co-president Alyssa Jordan Perez. “And as of recently, I’ve noticed not a lot of fine art isn’t being used that way. I feel like we should bring that back.”

Both Art For Charity Club co-founders are passionate, as well as versatile in their artistic endeavors.  

Jaslyn Ng, the other co-president, said, “I’ve been doing a lot of art forms. I do dance and figure skating, as well as physical arts such as drawing, sketching and painting, throughout my whole entire life.”  

Perez has expressed her devotion to practicing fine arts, as well as dabbled in animation and graphic design, such as painting and drawing, since early childhood.  

“I started taking classes in second grade, and I stopped around middle school,” she said. “Now I’m continuing it in high school, and I want to bring that back to this high school since we have a visual arts program.  It’s a good way for kids to express things.”

Both girls want to attract new members who share their passion.

Art For Charity Club meets every Thursday in room HF-12 from 3:40-4:45pm.  Updates, club photos, and more can be found on their instagram page: @cohs_art_for_charity_club