Lindsey Torres of Peekskill, NY, holding the Support-A-Walk tee-shirt that features her winning design.
18 year old Peekskill resident Lindsey Torres has been selected as the winner of the tee-shirt design contest for Support Connection’s 20th Anniversary Support-A-Walk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer. The Support-A-Walk, which will take place on Sun. Oct. 5 at FDR Park in Yorktown Heights, was founded by local residents to bring attention to the needs of people affected by breast and ovarian cancer, and to raise funds for Support Connection’s free support services for those living with these diseases.
In honor of this year’s 20th Anniversary Support-A-Walk, Support Connection wanted a special design for the tee-shirts that will be worn by thousands of participants. They invited middle and high school students come up with a graphic or illustration to represent the spirit of the Walk and the organization’s mission. The winning design was chosen by Support Connection staff.
Lindsey Torres graduated in June from Peekskill High School. She learned of the contest from her high school art teacher Heather Brown. She worked on a few different ideas before coming up with the design she submitted. It features balloons fashioned from the Support Connection heart-and-hand logo and two different awareness ribbons (pink for breast cancer and teal for ovarian cancer). The balloons are held aloft by a single hand. Lindsey says: “To me, balloons give a feeling of being happy and free. I thought the hand holding the balloons could represent letting your worries float away.”
Lindsey was surprised but very excited to win the contest. She was in art class when she learned her design had been selected: “When I told my art teacher that I’d won, she announced it to the class, and they gave me a round of applause.” Lindsey’s mom, Michele Saperstein, wasn’t surprised at all: “Lindsey has always been very creative. Her still life drawings are just awesome.” Lindsey loves drawing and painting as a hobby, but plans to study accounting when she enters SUNY Albany this fall.
Special thanks also go to graphic designer Kelly Duke McKinley, co-principal of the design team at www.pakcreative.com. Kelly took Lindsey’s design, which was done in acrylic paint, and converted it to a digital graphic for the tee-shirts.
The special Anniversary Support-A-Walk tee-shirts are available to anyone who makes a donation of $50 prior to the date of the Walk. To learn more about the 20th Anniversary Support-A-Walk, to register, or to make a donation, visit www.supportconnection.org or contact: 914-962-6402 or walk@supportconnection.org.