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Dayton Mall mural inspires, raises money for children

The Dayton Mall’s Magical Season of Giving Mural raised $5,000 in charitable donations from shoppers who left notes celebrating children.

Staff photo by Ron Alvey The Dayton Mall’s Magical Season of Giving Mural raised $5,000 in charitable donations from shoppers who left notes celebrating children.

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By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer 5:17 PM Thursday, January 14, 2010

MIAMI TWP.— If you’d like to know how folks in the Miami Valley feel about children, pay a visit to the entry at the Dayton Mall.

A giant community mural — created during the holidays by mall patrons — has ensured a $5,000 gift to a local children’s charity and offers some heartfelt inspiration as well.

Thousands of folks took time out from their holiday shopping to jot down the many ways they believe children are treasures.

“Children are our treasures because they give us good reasons to go on in the face of hardships and sorrows,” wrote one. “They are our future. We have so much to teach them and so much to learn from them,” said another.

The idea came from the Glimcher Corporation’s annual Magical Night of Giving. Glimcher, which owns both the Dayton Mall and the Mall at Fairfield Commons, has been hosting the special shopping night for charity for decades.

For that event, area nonprofit organizations sell tickets for $5. On a designated night, ticket holders buy discounted merchandise with ticket sales benefiting their own charities.

Mall marketing director Dave Casper and his colleagues proposed expanding that idea by creating a Magical Season of Giving. They suggested picking a new theme each year, then creating mall activities to reflect it. A designated charity would benefit.

“The main focus was to pick a nonprofit that has an impact on the local community,” Casper said.

In 2007, the mall joined forces with the Dayton Metro Library System, Miami Valley Literacy Council and Newspapers in Education to support literacy.

“That year, we had a large barricade wall that was turned into a book depository for the Miami Valley Literacy Council’s Backpack program,” Casper said.

“The books our customers donated were put into backpacks and delivered to the homes of families that don’t have the means to buy books for their children.” A total of $6,000 was donated to the three charities.

In 2008, the mall collaborated with the Dayton Autism Society and the Dayton Area Families for Effective Autism Treatment.

“We did a special community art event where professional artists from K-12 Galleries worked with our customers to create a piece of communal artwork,” Casper said.

“We also learned members of the Dayton Autism Society wished they could bring their kids to the mall to see Santa. The noise, lighting and crowds provide too much sensory overload for many of the kids, making it impossible for them to enjoy the experience.” The result was a Sensitive Santa event held before regular mall hours.

“We turned off the lights at the Santa set to make it less bright and turned off the mall’s holiday music,” Casper said.

“It was reassuring to the parents that everyone at the event would understand if a child had a bit of trouble, and that no one would stare.”

Sensitive Santa was repeated this year with medical professionals and schools alerted in advance. Nearly 100 families showed up.

One of the advantages of the new collaboration, Casper said, is the participation of community volunteers who staff the mall’s charity events.

He said the free activities could never be accomplished by mall staffers alone.

This year, the topic was children and Hannah’s Treasure Chest was selected as the nonprofit recipient. The local grass roots organization collects and distributes clothing, furniture and toys to needy families. Last year, 184,000 items were given away.

When the organization’s founder, Angela Addington of Centerville, first came to address the group, Casper says everyone was “absolutely blown away.”

“It was stunning that she started it out of her garage,” he says.

Addington, currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of her project, says the mall connection has been amazing.

“We did multiple children’s events with them — we painted angels, the kids decorated little treasure chests.”

Shoppers of all ages were invited to fill small paper treasure chests with their thoughts about kids. For every penned thought, the mall pledged $1 to Hannah’s Treasure Chest.

Addington said it was “really neat” to watch the wall grow — from a couple of treasure chests on the first day to thousands stacked two and three on top of one another.

Addington, who is about to receive a check for $5,000 from the mall, says the greatest benefit has been spreading the word about her organization.

“Because of the mall we had such an increased awareness that we were able to give 1,500 kids four gifts each for Christmas.”

Contact this reporter at 225-2440  or mmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.

WORDS FROM THE WALL

‘The greatest reward for completing life’

Here are some of the messages people wrote for the wall.

“Children are treasures because everyone is different, unique, loving and so moldable. They are our future. We have so much to teach them and so much to learn from them.”

“Children are the hardest, most fear-provoking, laugh-creating, job that we as parents are allowed to manage. The love of a child is the greatest reward for completing life.”

“They make you smile no matter how your day went. They love you unconditionally.”

“They keep us young and creative.”

“Because one smile is all it takes to melt your heart away!”

“Children are our treasures because they give us good reasons to go on in the face of hardships and sorrows.”

“Every day a child is growing and changing. Take time to notice what new things they say and do each day and you will receive a treasure of immeasurable pleasure.”

“Children are the most special because they are part of you. They make you laugh everyday and make you remember the important part of life — Family.”

“Children are treasures because their hearts are pure, they love unconditionally and are innocent. Children are a blessing.”

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