The Helping Art Liberate Orphans Foundation (HALO) celebrated its 10th birthday and seventh annual ArtReach Auction on Friday at Capital Mall in Jefferson City.
The event hosted roughly 300 people and was sponsored by multiple local businesses, including the News Tribune. Guests were treated to an open bar while they silently bid on gift baskets, coupons and art. There was also a live auction for several different pieces of art, including a photograph by Lacy Voight, program director for HALO and a Jefferson City local.
"We are treating this is as a birthday party, but not just because HALO is turning 10," she said. "We are treating this event as a birthday party for our kids that don't know when their birthday is, which is really special I think."
Voight's photo featured a young girl named Miriam, who came to one of the HALO orphanages in Kenya when she was only two.
"She is probably about six right now," Voight said. "When she came into the orphanage, she was very scared. She didn't smile, she did not talk to anybody besides her brother. ... They would comfort each other by singing back and fourth to each other at night in their cribs, and I was really touched by that story."
The photo is a close-up shot of Miriam's face surrounded by gold metal, in order to convey something very bright from something very dark, Voight said.
"Even though she is so young, her face looks aged to me," Voight said. "It is like she has this kind of history and life that was way more traumatic than any two-year-old should ever experience. I just really loved how her face ... is so present and you can see her emotion and her history."
Last year's ArtReach raised more than $40,000 for the HALO operation, said Elle Benage, HALO learning center director. She added this year's event was larger with more guests and more art, which she hoped would lead to more proceeds to help the kids in need.
HALO has 14 orphanages and programs in Uganda, Kenya, Mexico, India and Nicaragua. It provides food, water, shelter, clothing, education, art therapy, caretakers, and vocational training or college tuition for many children and teens in developing areas, including parts of Missouri, Oregon and California, according to its website. Its most recent project in Jefferson City was a transitional living program for at-risk youth who need homes.