Chloe Czech is a recent Wayzata High School graduate (class of 2020) who says she likes to help people – then puts her words into action by volunteering at various organizations in our community, including Hamel’s Art 2 Heart gift shop.
Chloe is able to combine her generous nature with her love of art by volunteering with Art 2 Heart’s ‘Creative Hearts’ group in the art studio on the 2nd floor of the turquoise house the shop occupies at 95 Hamel Road. Every Tuesday, the group crafts products that are then sold in the store. The store donates 100% of its net profits to ministries and charities in Minnesota and around the world.
“It’s definitely fun,” Chloe comments. “Talking with everyone, being part of a creative team, and knowing that the products I’m making will result in people being helped around the world.”
Chloe has helped the Creative Hearts team since she was 14 — by sewing tote bags, creating pebble art pictures on barn wood, metal stamping, flow-painting coasters, painting designs on baby onsies, and helping pack/unpack when the store moved in 2018. This spring, Chloe worked with the group to sew face masks to donate to local medical organizations.
Chloe also volunteers at her school, as an active member of the YES (Youth Extending Service) Volunteer Club since her freshman year. Through YES, she and some 800 student members, volunteer to help at community events, such as the haunted house in the fall. Her senior YES project was making 101 hand-tied fleece blankets and donating them to the Golden Valley animal shelter.
Chloe completed her certification as a nursing assistant at the end of 2019 and interned at a nursing home in Eden Prairie. She plans to adopt a “giving” career as an RN after getting her education at St Catherine University in St Paul.
ART 2 HEART UPDATED INFO:
Our customers and volunteers are our most important blessings and Art 2 Heart is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for them. To mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID-19 in our building, we have developed and implemented a Preparedness Plan based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and federal OSHA standards related to COVID-19.
- Everyone entering the building must wear a mask. If someone does not have a mask, one will be provided. No customers are allowed on the second floor of the building.
- All customers are required to use hand sanitizer (available throughout the building) immediately upon entering the building.
- A volunteer is responsible for frequent cleaning (before, during and after the shop is open) of high-touch areas, such as door handles, railings and counters.
- Volunteers must wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water frequently while in the building, but especially upon entering and departing the building.
- Staff and volunteers are working remotely when appropriate.
- In the shop, only small groups are allowed and everyone is required to maintain a 6 foot distance from each other.
Payments may be made, as usual, by check, cash or credit card without the clerk having to touch the credit card. There is a plexiglass shield at the check-out counter and the volunteer clerk disinfects the counter and pens after every customer.
Despite the store being closed for 2 months, Art 2 Heart’s ministry mission continued! 100% of our sales proceeds are usually invested in ministries around the world, but without income, we found other ways to bless the community.
For instance:
- A bin on the front porch had free Blessing Packets containing encouraging cards and little gifts (magnets, bookmarks, knit prayers squares) that people could share with others. If all the cards were used, we estimate over 1000 people were blessed and encouraged! More free Blessing Packets are available inside the shop now.
- Our Little Free Library turned into a little free food pantry for 6 weeks.
- Our prayer team, HEartReach, was praying for our customers and our ministries around the globe. Handmade items were given to people in nursing homes and nurses on the front lines for encouragement – about 150 verse magnets, 200 bookmarks, and 150 handwritten cards with encouraging notes.
- Our creative volunteers sewed cotton face masks with enthusiasm, donating 1,010 (at last count) to local clinics, hospitals and families.
- After the George Floyd protests, Art 2 Heart donated funds to groups in Minneapolis to help in rebuilding efforts.
We’d like customers to remember that shopping dollars spent at Art 2 Heart are effectively multiplied to make a positive difference in the world. A gift purchased from Art 2 Heart blesses the recipient…PLUS the artist who created it…PLUS the ministries that are supported with the proceeds.
HOURS: 11 am – 3 pm Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
ALWAYS OPEN ONLINE at www.OurArt2Heart.org
