A Fraser Valley dad who started a charitable website earlier this year is now raising money for the Starfish Pack program in Abbotsford.
John Perlinger, who runs the website Charitables.com, created a large charcoal portrait of NHL hockey players Carey Price and Shea Weber celebrating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Perlinger then sent the artwork to Price and Weber – who are both from B.C. and play for the Montreal Canadiens – to autograph it.
He then had it professionally scanned in Vancouver and had 18-by-24-inch prints made.
Perlinger also filmed the creation of the piece and produced a time-lapse video.
The drawing is now being sold at Oly’s Pet Connection – the owner is a former hockey coach of Perlinger’s – in Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack with proceeds supporting the Starfish Pack program.
The program provides backpacks filled with foods for kids who might otherwise go hungry to take home on weekends.
Prints are also available in the Okanagan at BMO locations in Kelowna and West Kelowna, with proceeds going to Mamas for Mamas, a national organization that supports moms and caregivers in crisis.
They can also be purchased online at indiegogo.com by searching “Charitables Launch Campaign.”
Perlinger, a former Abbotsford resident now living in Chilliwack, created Charitables.com so that charities can use the site to create a fundraising goal with a timeline.
They then send out a link to previous donors, asking them to use the site as a virtual garage sale. When a sale takes place, the proceeds go to the charity.
RELATED: Sell your stuff and help boost charities, says Fraser Valley website creator