Hello! Thornhill boy sells drawings for charity, with assist from Toronto Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong

Jacob Cantkier, 11, is raising money for Food Banks Canada

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 25, 2021

Eleven-year-old Jacob Cantkier has a passion for basketball and is using it to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Thornhill Carrville Mills Public School student has created over 30 drawings of the Toronto Raptors -- his favourite team -- and sportscasters. He has recently put them up for sale -- the cost is "donate what you can"-- to raise money for Food Banks Canada.

And get this: His uncle helped him score a meeting with his favourite sportscaster, Jack Armstrong, who signed many of the drawings being sold for charity.

His mother, Lisa, said it started with the beginning of the pandemic. Jacob was spending a lot more time at home and kept himself busy drawing pictures of different basketball players and announcers.

She said Jacob is well-informed about the current situation as he keeps himself up to date with the news.

"It's very emotional and scary to constantly be aware and hearing of so much sickness and deaths and people going to the hospitals ... but he kept busy and made sure he was able to play basketball by putting the net up in the backyard," Lisa said.

Then one day, Jacob made a wish that he could win the lottery to help other kids. "And I thought, wait a minute, maybe there is something he could do," Lisa said.

That's when they decided it would be a cool idea to get Jacob's drawings signed by the Raptors, and then sell it for charity.

With the help of Jacob's uncle, Gord Kirke, who is a Canadian sports and entertainment lawyer, they managed to get Jack Armstrong, a sportscaster for the Toronto Raptors, to sign the drawings.

On Jan. 11, Jacob met Armstrong in Toronto outside the Scotiabank Arena to have his drawings autographed.

This was exciting for Jacob for two reasons. One, Armstrong is Jacob's favourite sportscaster and he loves to listen to him and mimic what he says. "Hellooo," is one of his favourite expressions used by Armstrong when there's a big slam dunk.

And two, Jacob was excited to get his art signed by him so he can sell them to help people out during these times.

Jacob said he might even end up keeping one of his own drawings signed by Armstrong.

Each drawing took Jacob around 45 minutes to make, which he did alone in his family living room using pencil crayons and markers.

His dad, Nathan, who is a graphic designer, helped him with the finishing touches on his poster entitled "The Men Behind The Mics" which includes the sportscasters of the Toronto Raptors.

Although he hasn't sold any yet, Jacob's goal is to raise $1,000 for Food Banks Canada.

His signed drawings are for sale via Instagram (@kid2kid.art). Also, those who are interested in purchasing a drawing, or who are looking for more information can email kid2kidart@gmail.com.

"It's been really tough on me because ever since COVID-19 happened, I knew that I wouldn't be able to socialize a lot ... then I thought about kids in worse conditions, and couldn't bear to think of that," said Jacob.

"I wanted to do something to help them," he added.

Lisa said it was perfect how Jacob used his passion for basketball to help others.

It even reminds of her of the movie, "Julie and Julia," the story about a young woman (Julie Powell) who starts a blog with the determination to emulate her chef icon, Julia Child, and her cooking techniques.

"I felt like this is kind of like Jacob and Jack ... because he's doing something he loves and enjoys and hopefully will be helping people," Lisa said.