Work that comes from the heart

Julianna Tand has proved that you’re never too young to start making a difference.

The 10-year-old from North Merrick has been creating and selling works of art for several years now, donating all of the money to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, a nonprofit whose mission is to create and support programs that improve children’s health and well-being. It operates a 42-room house in New Hyde Park in which families can stay when their children undergo treatment at the nearby Cohen Children’s Medical Center.

Julianna, who attends Old Mill Road School in the North Merrick Union Free School District, began volunteering with the charity when she was in kindergarten. Her family took part in its baking program at the New Hyde Park home.

“You’d bring your own supplies, and they would have their commercial kitchen set up, and we would just bake for two or three hours,” her mother, Jennifer Tand, said. “It just supplemented the food they would provide for the families.”

Everything changed when the coronavirus pandemic began, Jennifer said, and as a result of many precautionary measures the charity had to take, the baking program ended, and has yet to resume.

Julianna still wanted to give back to the charity in some way, and through her small business, Julianna’s Works of HeART, she found a way to do so.

Using clay, she has created all sorts of pieces, such as shadowboxes with a client’s family members and dogs, or Christmas ornaments. She takes orders for her creations on a Google Form, charging $10 per character, and the profits directly benefit Ronald McDonald House. Since she was in third grade, Julianna has raised close to $8,000.

On top of the orders she receives, she has also hosted raffles on her mom’s Facebook page. “I make a clay piece, and then usually go live,” Julianna said. “It’s a $10 charge to (try to) win that particular clay piece.”

One piece in particular — a figurine of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was famously photographed sitting by himself on a folding chair on the steps of the Capitol during President Biden’s inauguration — sold in April of 2021, raking in $3,100.

A “Golden Girls” piece that Julianna made earlier this year raised an additional $1,240.

To access the form she uses to take orders, go to her Facebook page, Julianna’s Works of HeART.

Now, as the holiday season approaches, she is ready to step up her efforts once again. Working with her grandmother Debbie Viola, who is also an artist, Works of HeART will host a paint night at the Sacred Heart R.C. Church in North Merrick. The event is slated to take place on Nov. 4, at 7 p.m., and there will be a $50 donation to take part. The church is at 720 Merrick Ave.

“I decided to do it because I wanted to make more money,” Julianna said, “in addition to the money that I would make from selling custom clay pieces.”

The paint night will be led by her grandma, who has a decorative painting business, Art by Debbie Viola. Viola will teach budding artists how to paint sunflowers on a canvas. Supplies will be provided, and there will be refreshments and raffles. Julianna’s hope is to raise enough money to hit her lifetime goal of raising $10,000 for the charity.

Jennifer said they would prefer that people RSVP ahead of the event so Viola can get adequate supplies. Those interested can reserve a seat at (516) 643-2441. So far, Julianna said, 20 people have reserved a spot, donating an initial $1,000.

Viola, who in her career as an artist has done restorative work at St. Agnes Cathedral, in Rockville Centre, and the Ritz Carlton, in Manhattan, said that while she has never worked with clay, Julianna may have inherited some skills from her mother, who made figurines when she was a child.

“She is such a sweet and sensitive kid,” Viola said. “It makes me so happy to see her pursuing this.”

Julianna said she hopes to inspire others. “I just want to say that I hope to show other kids my age that you don’t have to be a grown up to make a difference,” she said. “I’m one kid, and I can make a big difference in the lives of others.”

Viola added that she finds her granddaughter an inspiration. “It only takes one person,” she added. “It’s kind of like, ‘be the one’ — and I look at her as the one who is making a difference.”