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| January 20,2012 |
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| December 2011 |
From The Amazing Youth J Student Reporters Jessica Fang ‘Saves Lives One Shirt at a Time’
Jessica Fang, a junior attending Cerritos High School, has founded a non-profit organization, S.O.P.E. (Save Our Precious Earth), through which she designs and sells shirts to donate to different organizations of various causes. Having a profound love for art, Fang decided to put her talents to a beneficial use. By “saving lives one shirt at a time,” Fang aspires to get her organization out into the public and truly be able to make a difference in the world with her artistic gift. Fang first started her organization, Precious Line, in May 2011.
“One day one person told me, “Jessica, your art is amazing, you should do something about it. And I did. She inspired me to continue with my dream which was just a small vague idea,” Fang recalled. She never knew she could help heal the world by doing something that she considered a simple hobby. She was inspired to relate her first project to the devastating earthquake that hit Japan earlier that year in March. Fang decided to donate all the proceeds to Red Cross’s Japan donation project. Her first design mixed a range of the word ‘Japan’ in various languages and arranged the words into a heart figure. With an appealing and whimsical design, the shirt was unisex, made available to males and females, both young and old. But because it was the first project right after she launched the organization, she was not able to spread the word out to much of the public. However, she managed to raise $125 after selling her self-designed shirts to close family and friends. Fang was even able to sell her shirt to relatives in Taiwan.
After her first project, Fang took a short break as she had a difficult time managing both her new organization and her hectic junior year schedule. But she planned for her second project in the process. She also changed the name of her organization from Precious Line to S.O.P.E. in order to make the title seem less feminine. Fang recently launched her official blog for S.O.P.E. where she updates weekly entries of environmental issues such as the ocean, wild life, Africa, and the radiation in Japan. She also released her new design for her second project on the blog. Her second project will be donated to the Ocean Conservancy, an organization that protects the ocean and spreads aquatic awareness. The design is in the “I love NY” concept, but instead, replaces the words with the letters “SOPE” and a design of an earth in the place of the ‘O’. Fang sketches her designs on a tablet linked to her computer, places orders on shirt companies, and sells them from $15-$20. After paying for the shipping and product expenses, she donates all the profit to the organization that she is supporting. Fang is deeply into conserving the environment and the wild life living in it.
“Ever since I was little I owned pets: hermit crabs, fish, chinchilla, and now a dog. I learned to love animals. Especially over the summer, I got to learn about marine biology and the environment by volunteering at the Long Beach Aquarium. I really got involved with learning about the endangered animals and how we, as humans, harm the ocean and its creatures like the coral reefs, which are also animals. I basically started falling in love with animals and the environment,” said Fang.
In order to continuously seek after what she loves, Fang hopes to pursue a double major in Art and Environmental Science in college. She is currently preparing her art portfolio for college applications. But in the mean time, Fang has many short term goals as well. Her next project will take place in the months from January to February. Fang would like to help her close friend who made an organization through which he goes to Africa every summer to construct. She would like to donate to their cause and incorporate Africa as a theme for her next design. Fang also plans on registering for the Etsy online art store to sell her doodles and smaller pieces of artwork. With the profit she makes, she would like to donate to the organizations that S.O.P.E. currently supports.
“Jessica is an amazing person. She is really doing her part every day to help the environment. She has also put her artistic talents to great use by designing shirts and donating the proceeds to various organizations,” said Junior Matthew Hu. “One day, I want to get [S.O.P.E.] big enough so that I could donate more money to other organizations, without stressing out about making profits or meeting deadlines,” said Fang. Fang strives to make a difference in the world with the best of her abilities. She exerts her talents to support beneficial causes, rather than use them for her own benefit. Please be sure to support S.O.P.E. by visiting its new blog: http://sopeshirts.blogspot.com/2011/12/first-realease.html. Irene Hwang Cerritos High School
Another article in the Korean Daily
http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?art_id=1334514
