Poulsbo girl’s artwork totes holiday cheer

Published 11:00 am Wednesday, November 29, 2006

POULSBO — Ainsley MacKenzie sold her first piece of artwork when she was a mere 4 years old. Now, three years later, she’s using her talents to help those in need.

MacKenzie’s holiday artistry has found its way onto Christmas greeting cards benefitting Children’s Hospital of Seattle and is also featured on grocery bags at Top Food & Drug and Haggen Food and Pharmacy stores.

Her drawings of a reindeer at nighttime, a happy snowman and a picturesque Christmas tree scene will appear on more than 5.3 million paper and plastic bags throughout Washington and Oregon.

“We’re so proud of her. It’s been pretty amazing,” said Ainsley’s mother, Kari MacKenzie.

Art has been something that Ainsley has excelled at since she picked up her first Crayon, Kari said.

“She sold her first piece of art when she was 4, and she’s been to several arts and crafts fairs,” she said.

However, seeing her daughter’s artwork directly help children in need far exceeds any possible monetary rewards, she said.

“Every time somebody buys a card it’s raising money for Children’s Hospital,” Kari said.

With that thought in mind, Ainsley said she feels pretty good about the whole experience.

“My first grade teacher, Marsha Hedstrom, asked me to do some artwork,” she said. “I like doing a lot of art and I love doing Christmas images.”

Her most recent artwork was a special project for Children’s Hospital, which is now featured on the hospital’s Web site — www.seattlechildrens.org.

Her classmates at Pearson Elementary School have also shared in the effort as news of Ainsley’s recognition is featured in the school library, she said.

“I love doing artwork and I like helping people,” Ainsley said. “I like sharing my artwork a lot.”

That spirit of sharing also found its way onto KOMO 1000 news radio, which took Ainsley’s mother by complete surprise.

“I had just gotten into my car and turned the radio on, and there it was,” Kari said. “It was amazing.”

For Top Food & Drug, placing Ainsley’s artwork on its grocery bags is simply another way of giving back to those in need.

“We are amazed by the tremendous care that Children’s provides to families in our region regardless of their ability to pay,” said Dale C. Henley, president and CEO of Haggen, Inc. “We want everyone to know that Children’s is a wonderful health care resource.”

Even though, Ainsley and her classmates have a lot of toys and gadgets on their Christmas lists for Santa, there’s one present they’re hoping to get before then: bags with Ainsley’s artwork.

“Everybody wants a bag,” Ainsley said.

With that thought in mind, her mother said a trip to one of the area’s Top Food & Drug stores was in order.

“We’ll go get them and bring them back for everyone,” she said.