Breaking News - anonymous donor has pledged up to $10,000 USD to Haitian Street Kids, Inc

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August 15, 2011

An anonymous donor has pledged to donate one penny – up to $10,000 USD, which would represent one million dots – to Haitian Street Kids, Inc. for each person who has signed up as a member of The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait up until the last dot is drawn. The Portrait is scheduled to be completed this year; Artist David Ilan is working to complete the images of Michael by August 29, 2011, with the background of the portrait to be completed soon after that.

If 1,000,000 people have signed up before the very last dot is drawn on the Tribute Portrait, the donor will make the donation at that time. Otherwise, when David confirms the Portrait is complete, the donor will be advised of the last dot number signed up – and one penny for every person signed up as a Dot in The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait will go to the HSKI.

Anyone who signs up before August 29th will have their dot placed in Michael’s image. After the Portrait is complete, when someone joins they will be assigned a pre-drawn dot somewhere within the Portrait itself, but not necessarily in the areas making up Michael’s image. Once the Portrait is complete, fans can continue to join for a long time to come.

A Note about the Completion Schedule:

We announced earlier this year that we anticipated The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait would be completed in time for Michael’s birthday this year (August 29). The final completion date will be extended, for various reasons, explained below. David Ilan is working to complete Michael's images by MJ's birthday.

The extension is needed because:

1. This Portrait is the largest David has ever done, and though he had hoped to have Michael's images completed last month, working on it hours on end, every day, so he could complete the background, he needs more time to complete Michael's images. He wants the images detailed and perfect (agreed!).

2. The background: The Letters to Michael were more than just writing letters. David wanted real letters to be included in the Portrait and to read them himself. His decision to include the selected letters is his way of sharing with the world what Michael really means to real people, and why. It was much harder than we could have imagined for David to choose only four letters, so he chose eight letters that touched him the most. David selected portions of those letters, which he'd like to include in the Portrait. The authors have hand-written the requested portions and sent those in to us. In addition to the letters, he'll be drawing another something, tying the letters in to the Portrait. He will begin this portion of the drawing once he's completed his images of Michael. That all shouldn't be nearly as labor-intensive as drawing Michael, but it will take him at least several weeks once he's completed the two images of Michael.

David cannot commit to an exact date, because he's found he simply cannot pinpoint the exact amount of time he will need to draw these million+ dots to complete it. We anticipate it will be completed during autumn 2011.

3. We want to allow more time for more people to sign up to help Haitian Street Kids, Inc. The donor originally approached us in July with the idea of donating one penny for each member represented by a dot in Michael’s Portrait, up to one million dots, or $10,000 USD. After contacting three charities, the donor found just the right one: Haitian Street Kids, Inc.

Haitian Street Kids, Inc. (HSKI), established in 1999 by Michael Brewer, helps as many kids as they can by providing first aid, advice and hope, to begin with. As funds allow, they also provide shelter and food. Long term, they wish to educate the children while lobbying the government, individuals and organizations to enforce a total and permanent ban on slavery and child abuse.

HSKI is 100% non-profit – every penny goes toward helping the children. Our donations go a long way to help save a child’s life.

Due to disasters in Haiti and the world economy as a whole, the donations HSKI receives have gone down, and that means they do not have the funds they need to help as many children in need. Donations of all amounts are appreciated. A few dollars can feed a few kids.

The donor is anxious to help by making a $10,000 USD donation to HSKI.

You can help by spreading the word. There is no cost to members to sign up and be represented in Michael’s Portrait, and it takes only seconds.

The extended Portrait completion date will afford HSKI the opportunity to receive more money. Merely by signing up, this charity that so needs help can receive a little more... Every dot counts, every penny counts. Really.

Tell your friends to get their dot at http://www.MichaelJacksonTributePortrait.com today!

Source: MJTP / MJ-Upbeat