It all began with a crown on a canvas.
Crowns 4 Kids is a newly founded business that donates half of its profits to the children battling cancer at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. The founder of Crowns 4 Kids, astonishingly, is seven-year-old Harlan Jackson from Madisonville, LA. What started out as a gift for his mother, LSU alum Erica Adams, has snowballed into something greater in just three short weeks.
It was the Friday after New Year's Eve. Harlan and his cousin had just come inside after playing to find his mother and Jillian Shnowski, family friend and LSU Theta, practicing their acrylic painting. The children, wanting to paint as well, joined the pair.
“Erica loves crowns,” says Shnowski, “so Harlan decided to paint her one. She posted it on Facebook and received a lot of comments from her friends wanting him to paint them one.”
The next day, Harlan painted another crown, and yet again there was a demand from Adams’ friends. Seeing the potential, Harlan decided that Sunday on his way to mass that he would paint the crowns, sell them, and donate half the profit to children undergoing cancer treatment. From that moment on, Crowns 4 Kids was born. That same day Adams and Shnowski began accepting orders. Neither of them knew just how quickly things would take off.
“Within a day, 100 crowns were sold, an interview with Nancy Parker from Fox 8 was scheduled, and a lawyer offered to set up the LCC at no cost,” says Shnowski.
To date, there have been almost 300 crowns sold. With business booming there has been a lot of support for Harlan’s project from friends and family.
When asked why she thought this business was so important, Shnowski replied, “As someone who grew up volunteering and doing philanthropic activities, it makes me so proud to help a seven-year-old I’ve watched grow up execute an idea to help others. It blew his mom and I away when he came up with it because we weren’t sure where he became aware of cancer. It turned out a girl at his school and a boy he played in a fundraising tournament for are battling cancer and they are what inspired him to donate half of the money to children with cancer. After speaking to the employees at the Children’s hospital, we learned that the money donated goes directly to the kids. The hospital uses the money to host events and buy toys for the patients, which is even more wonderful.”
To stay updated with Crowns 4 Kids or if interested making a purchase, like and follow their Facebook page of the same name.
