14-year-old painter on mission to help St. Jude kids fighting cancer

March 4: 
Arsh Pal has two passions in his life: his painting and helping people. On his eighth birthday, Arsh's family gave him acrylic painting supplies and he became obsessed with the medium, producing painting after painting. He found endless inspiration in nature and the world at large, including the downtown murals near his then-home in Dubuque, Iowa. The family has since moved to Chicago.

“One day, I had the idea of selling my paintings,” said Arsh. At around this time, his mother Divya started bringing Arsh with her to her job as an occupational therapist at a nursing home so he could help with the activities.

As Arsh was leading the residents in a painting tutorial, he noticed the attention he showed them as they created their paintings of a simple landscape scene, brought them joy.

“We can all be learning the same simple thing, like a mountain or a cloud, and the activity makes us happy,” said Arsh.

The moment affected Arsh deeply, and something clicked: He realized the residents, though decades older, had the same desire for connection and fun that he did. But he also saw that sometimes they were hurting and lonely.
Heavy thoughts for an 8-year-old.

“That made me want to help someone,” said Arsh. Someone else who was hurting. Remembering how he’d wanted to sell his paintings, he thought, “You’re too young to earn money, but this is the way you can support someone, using your talents.”

For the past seven years, Arsh has been selling his artwork to raise funds for the kids at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

“I decided to donate the money to St. Jude because St. Jude is run with donations, and it helps kids with cancer, so that really stood out to me,” he said.

His first donation to St. Jude, when he was 8, was for $1,000. He’s donated $1,000 to St. Jude every year since then, until this year when he decided to take part in something even bigger.

St. Jude was founded in Memphis in 1962 by Danny Thomas, the son of immigrant parents, to treat children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases regardless of their race, ethnicity, beliefs or ability to pay. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live, regardless of the duration or the cost of care.

Arsh has taken virtual marketing seminars to help him sell art. “A lot of things are behind it,” said Arsh, “and it’s a lot of work.” He said he believes these skills will help him throughout life.

Divya has been his pressure-release valve, taking the harder things off his shoulders so he can focus on creating the art itself.

“She’s kind of my manager, actually, because she’s handling a lot of things. She created my Facebook account and Instagram page, and she takes pictures. And she handles, like, the meetings and emails and a lot of different things,” Arsh said. “Without her, I really can’t do it.”

Divya said that’s OK because she knows how blessed her family is to have their health, and her heart goes out to St. Jude families. “Being a mom, too, I can completely see what a St. Jude family could go through,” said Divya. “Supporting them is the least we could do.”

“It can be really painful for them to go through all that treatment, and I know I’m helping them,” said Arsh. “And it makes me feel good because I’m pretty much saving somebody’s life.”