Pink Ink Fundraiser + Farewell Steve Jobs

{Author's note: This post is potentially NSFW.}


Amy Black, owner of Trademark Tatoo in Carytown

Emily's post yesterday seems to have been perfectly timed. It has got me thinking about giving and the daily impact we have on one another's lives. I had just come across RVA Magazine's article on Amy Black, owner of Trademark Tattoo in Carytown, and the amazing things she is doing to use her tattooing talents to help women who have survived breast cancer, and realized it was the perfect follow-up post to Emily's ideas on RADness.

In June 2011, Amy Black set out to help those in need through her talents in tattooing. She founded the Pink Ink Fund to help provide financial assistance to breast cancer survivors hoping to restore self-esteem by having reconstructive tattooed nipple re-pigmentation. The Pink Ink Fund is teaming up with Lamb of God and Mekong restaurant for an inaugural fundraising event featuring the DJ Williams Projekt that is happening tonight! The event will start at 7 PM and is free (minus your donations). RSVP on facebook here. Amy Black not only uses her talents for breast cancer survivors, but was also voted the Best Tattoo Artist in Richmond for 2011! If you can't make the fundraiser event tonight, you can still donate to the Pink Ink Fund here.

In the giving mood yet? I sure hope so, because The Amazing Raise ends today at 6 PM. From their website, "During this 36-hour online giving event, the more unique donors who give a gift of $50 or more to their favorite nonprofits, the greater the chance of those organizations winning bonus grants of up to $10,000. The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia has committed $100,000 to be distributed among winning nonprofits." Donate to The Amazing Raise here.

While musing on giving to others, it's impossible not to mention the loss of Steve Jobs today. Steve Jobs was not only one of the most incredibly talented, innovative, and genius minds of our generation - he had a true passion for stimulating change that he hoped would benefit the entire world. In his speech to the 2005 graduating class of Stanford, he said, " [Y]ou can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." I have to say that quote really resonates with me. All three of the Minimalist writers have been very personally affected by cancer and when things are hard (and sometimes unimaginably hard), it's always helped me to focus on trusting life will fall into place. Steve Jobs ends his speech with the call to "stay hungry and stay foolish." I think that quote sums up Richmond quite well. I'm incredibly happy to be in a place that fosters this type of culture. Whiling remembering Steve Jobs today, be sure to check out this incredible list of Apple's technical drawings for nearly all of their patents.

So, here's to you Amy Black and Steve Jobs. The world would be a different place without your impact.

Christie Thompson