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Donate  A 501(c)3 nonprofit helping artists and families as people projects

P9 Foundation values the privacy of our donors, and

so we use Zeffy as an independent service both to accept donations and provide you with a receipt for your tax credit. As a nonprofit 501c3 public  charity, your donation makes our work possible. Thank you!

Why Donate?
It may seem odd that the goal of P9 is to support artists and creative people and yet much of our website is about desperately poor and needy people in Ghana. Some of them are creative people trying to gain recognition, some of them are just people in trouble. So why are we talking about them here? Why not have a site for the artists of P9 and an entirely separate site for those we are trying to help outside of the goals of P9 itself?


The reason is this:
Originally the concept of P9 was born from hearing about the struggles of Joshua, the younger brother of John in Ghana. Both John and Joshua are very poor- poor in a way people who live in better circumstances cannot even imagine. They struggle to find food every day and often have no place to stay at night. It is just a way of life there, and a way of death.
But Joshua wanted to be an artist. John sent me photos of some of the watercolors that Joshua had painted, one of a woman carrying a child strapped on her back andanother of the waves of the ocean. Both paintings showed talent and, more importantly, desire. Joshua had so little money that even the supplies to practice-paints, brushes, and canvas or even paper to paint on- were beyond his reach. But
he badly wanted to be an artist.

 

When I showed interest Joshua, through, John, asked for books on painting; basic how-to art books and also books on Van Gogh and others. There was a hunger there that was honest and real. My finances were very limited and there wasn't much I could do for him but I sorely wanted to, and I felt bad when I could not.


That was some years ago and things have not gone well for Joshua. He spent some time in prison and later in a mental institution but mostly he is simply poor poor poor. His years of poverty have broken his artistic spirit and he is not in good mental or physical health. His youth, his desires, and his talent have been crushed by the helplessness of having nothing.
This was the origin of the idea of a way to help people who have the creative impulse but are simply too poor to be able to do anything about it. This is P9.


But in the meantime I have kept in touch with John in Ghana. During the time I have known him, John himself has become involved in the performing arts. He is a singer and songwriter and has recorded his own music and the music of others. He has built up his own production company that works to help poor kids in Ghana to advance
their craft and to become better known. This is entirely in the spirit of P9, though John is not directly connected with us in that sense. John is also a minister and an all-round decent guy. He has built up a reputation for helping people who come to him in need. We have been proud to be a small part of this practical, direct service to others. Little Anabel, Favour and her baby, Haddi and Zenabu and their baby girl, and many others are alive today because of the work John and we have done together.


We have included their stories on this website because they are in need and continue to need whatever help anyone can offer them. This is a service we are glad to provide, so that others can know about them and help if they wish.


For various practical reasons we use GoFundMe donation sites for them to keep them functionally and practically separate from P9 itself. Through this means, you can help these people directly and specifically and know that all of the money is going directly to the people you want to help.
Any donations to P9 itself are much appreciated too. Those donations will go to maintaining and upgrading the work we are trying to do for artists specifically within the framework of the nonprofit itself. 


Any help on any level is appreciated, and is greatly needed.

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