Lauren Bliss
At the age of eight, Lauren Bliss was a small girl with big dreams – and a big stack of coloring books. In third grade, Bliss’ friend was hospitalized with malaria over Christmas break. While there, she received a huge art kit, chock full of markers, pens and paper.
“I thought, if art can make one person happy, I’m sure it could do the same for so many others,” Bliss says.
Inspired, Bliss started an art supply drive, hoping each student in her class could bring one coloring book. They blew away her expectations.
“I remember when my Grammy and Papa came over, and they came with a stack of 60 color books and crayons, and I just remember being so shocked,” Bliss says. “It was taller than me.”
In her first drive, Bliss collected more than 180 coloring books. In 2020, Bliss decided to expand her reach. She collaborated with the National Junior Honor Society at her school and started donating to Sam’s Fans, a Columbus-based nonprofit that supports art and music therapy for chronically ill kids.
Nicki McCarthy, the founder of Sam’s Fans, started the nonprofit after her daughter Samantha passed away at the age of 11 from a rare disease.
“I really love and appreciate when kids get involved in what we’re doing because we’re helping kids,” McCarthy says. “Lauren was probably close to around the same age as my daughter at the time that she started getting in contact with me and told me about what she was doing. That really meant a lot.”
Lauren Bliss
In January 2024, Bliss signed the papers to make Color Me Happy an official nonprofit. From there, the events took off.
Bliss’ favorite event during her first year was Chalk the Walk. In July, dozens of people drew rainbows, smiley faces and positive messages on the bike path at Emeralds Field.
Bliss also attended other fundraising events where she encountered families directly affected by cancer.
“Typically, you’re not allowed to go see the children you directly impact, but through events like the Ohio High Childhood Cancer Collective, I kind of get to talk to kids who I would be impacting, and that’s really cool,” Bliss says.
All of this would not be possible without Bliss’ parents. Between Jamie, her business-minded dad, and Emily, her detail-oriented mom, Color Me Happy is in capable hands.
“I was taught to give back to people,” Bliss says. “I don’t even have my driver’s license, so they’re still driving me to and from my events, or to the bank to cash a check, or helping me fill out papers for all the legal things.”
Bliss also adds that McCarthy has inspired her to keep building the nonprofit.
“I’m just really grateful that I had a mentor like that who runs a nonprofit because she’s been able to teach me, ‘How do you raise money? What does an event look like?’ and all the details that you don’t know until you try it,” Bliss says.
Although McCarthy says she gave Bliss a few tips on the non-profit world, Bliss was born with a gift to connect with others.
Lauren Bliss
“She’s such a giving person and you can really tell that when she speaks,” McCarthy says. “Everything she knew about Sam’s Fans, she was able to relay that to other people and move them to donate…The world is really lucky to have her.”
The future of her nonprofit is bright, and, of course, colorful. Bliss says her big dream is to raise enough money to fund an art or music therapist’s salary at a local hospital, or maybe become that therapist herself one day.
“In our everyday lives, we forget that something so simple as a coloring book and crayons can take the stress away of everyday life, or even the stress away from really difficult situations like fighting cancer,” Bliss says.
Maggie Fipps is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
