Barrington Teen Lauded for Launching Nonprofit to Give Artful Cards to Hospital Patients

A 17-year-old Barrington girl passionate about art and poetry has found a way to share her enthusiasm with hundreds, if not thousands of people. And it has lifted the spirits of thousands of hospital patients along the way.

Amy Harff, a student at Wheeler High School, was motivated to do something to give back to the community. She said that she has been fortunate to grow up in a community surrounded by inspiring people.

She has been “helped by many volunteers during my life,” and “by giving back, I feel like I am thanking them for helping me to learn,” she said.

In this noble pursuit, Harff has demonstrated a remarkable humility in her approach, finding a way to rope in dozens of others in her mission. If there is a demand for professional team builders in the modern workforce, Harff should be a sought-after candidate: she created a nonprofit, “The Art of Giving,” and formed partnerships to take her passion and use it as fuel for an effort much larger than one individual self.

The partnerships included the Tiverton Sandywoods Boys and Girls Club, East Providence Boys and Girls Club, Prospect Housing Development and Galigo Housing Development. She reached more than 100 students from Rhode Island and collected a large amount of artwork. She encouraged the children to participate in a community service project that would impact thousands of hospital patients, “instilling them with a sense of satisfaction that comes from helping others,” she said.

She selected a few pieces to be turned into cards. The cards were paired with poems and formatted. Then Harff met with Paula Most and the printing and food services departments at Rhode Island Hospital.

The project was launched in May of 2014 and more than 300 patients got cards in the first week.

On April 21, the Harff will be recognized at her school in Providence. Harff will recieve a $1,000 check and the distinction of being named a Metta Students Foundation award winner.

Metta Students Foundation was founded in 2012 after Norm Kelly, founder of Sofware Quality Associates in Providence, learned about a teen’s act of kindness towards another teen.

Since then, $24,000 has been awarded to students who have done kind acts and “continue to share metta,” according to a release.

“Metta means love and kindness,” Kelly said. “And we are proud to be able to give recognition to all of those bright lights who give back, not because they have to, but because they are truly good hearted and want to make a positive difference.”

Harff’s was nominated by Neeltje Henneman, Upper School Head of Wheeler.

“I nominated Amy because I was impressed by the way she used her interest in visual art, poetry, and entrepreneurship to give back to the larger community. I am delighted to watch her communicate her own passion to children and to use the final product as a way to provide comfort (and perhaps poetic inspiration) to young patients in a local hospital. Amy brings warmth, compassion and energy to her daily life at Wheeler, and we’re proud that she shares these traits - -and the power of art and poetry -- with others as well,” Henneman said.

To see video of how the Metta Students foundation began or for more information about the foundation visit: www.mettastudents.org.