American Tattoo Artists

Lost Gypsy Tattoo recently began the process of enlisting the public to help provide a merrier Christmas to veterans and children in need.

Recently, Draven Gayheart, the owner of Lost Gypsy Tattoo, released an online statement trying to involve the community in some of the available opportunities to give to others. In his statement, Gayheart informed people that they could potentially win up to $300 in gift certificates for Lost Gypsy Tattoo by sponsoring a veteran from the Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center or by sponsoring a child from the Care Cottage.

Every year since I began tattooing I've been actively involved in toy drives to help those less fortunate. This year, due to COVID and the regulations passed down from above, we could not find a way to safely house an event, said Gayheart. Gayheart said many people reach out to the employees of the shop each year and ask what they can do to get involved in the community, so he wanted to take the opportunity to continue the support shown to people who need it.

This year I'd like to ask that you consider sponsoring a veteran or child from our local Veterans Center or Care Cottage, said Gayheart. As a special thank you, I'll be drawing one name from each list of donors to win a $150 gift certificate. Invest in our future and sponsor a child. Honor our past and sponsor a veteran. sponsor both to double your chances to win.

cThe gift certificates, said Gayheart, are transferrable and will make a great gift if tattoos aren't your thing.

Items being requested by the Care Cottage are donations for children, including regular sized Christmas stockings, candy canes, candy assortments, small toys, Christmas coloring books, gift wrapping paper and children's pajamas. Additionally, the organization has asked that community members adopt, or sponsor, a child client by buying them Christmas presents. For more information, call, 487-9173.

The Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center is currently seeking individuals who would be interested in sponsoring, or adopting, a veteran for the holidays by purchasing the items on the Christmas lists of their residents. This year, said EKVC officials, is different than previous years, but very important to the residents.

It's a little different this year due to the COVID. How it's worked in the past, we always had a Christmas tree in our lobby and we had it where it was anonymous on our residents. It had their wishes and the community or staff and family would come by and pick a resident ornament off the tree adopting that resident, said Matthew Sabin, EKVC activity director. This year, a lot of that has been restricted, said Sabin, stating that the center's staff has to be respectful about private information and can't have public coming in due to virus. Safety is our number one concern for our residents, he said.

Due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the veterans can be sponsored by calling the veterans center and asking to sponsor an available veteran. The EKVC staff will provide basic information to the caller, explaining what the resident's wishes for Christmas are while also keeping their identity anonymous.

We're trying as much as possible, said Sabin.The community, this is such a strong supported community for our veterans. It's heartbreaking that this Christmas will be so much more restricted, he said.

Overall the response is always so amazing, said Sabin, adding that schools, churches and community groups often quickly sponsor the residents. Normally, I'd say our residents are adopted within a day or two.

The EKVC, said Sabin, still has several veterans who need adopted this year.

The EKVC, Sabin said, also welcomes community members to send in donations for stocking stuffers, general items, Christmas cards and letters.

We also always welcome pen-pal letters, hand drawn pictures, maybe general items that can be used by any of the residents whether it be soft food snacks or personal hygiene products, said Sabin.

To mail letters or cards, address the mail to the Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center Activity Department at 200 Veterans Dr, Hazard, KY 41701. For more information about sponsoring a veteran, donating to the veteran's center, or participating in the pen-pal program, contact, (606) 435-6196.

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Lost Gypsy Tattoo holds giveaway to encourage holiday sponsorship of veterans, children in need - Hazard Herald