LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lancaster Tattoo Shop owner recently held a day-long event where anyone who paid for ink was also donating to the non-profit VisionCorps.
The partnership is more than just a random act of kindness, however.
Christian Anaviate met Jesse Miller when he stopped in for a new tattoo at this shop, Beautiful Sin Tattoos & Body Piercings.
"At the beginning, when he came in here they were like, 'Man, you know he's gonna trust you with that? This is serious, he's just about to give me his body to tattoo him," recalled Christian.
"He just walked in with this lady, like a normal couple. Then I started realizing there was something [different] about him. Then I was like, 'Oh man, this guy is blind," he continued.
Jesse, who in his own words is "blind as a bat," wanted to add some tattoos to his chest and arm. He had an idea in his mind but needed the perfect tattooist to carry out what he wanted.
"He was a little confused at first, 'cause here's a blind guy and I gave him total free range of doing anything he wanted," Jesse remembered. "I just always wanted a big chest piece and a sleeve."
Anaviate began working on drawing out the design, which Jesse felt. When he approved the design, the tattooing began.
"Christian is very gentle. I didn't know I was getting tattooed at one point and I was able to open up and tell him my story about what I've been through and how Vision Corps helped me," Jesse said.
The Pennsylvania-based non-profit is on a mission to empower individuals who are blind or vision impaired to attain independence. They achieve this goal through rehabilitation, preventative and educational services as well as employing people who are blind in manufacturing, food processing and administrative services.
"What VisionCorps is doing for them is amazing and they're a nonprofit organization. There's always a good time to give back and it's for a good cause," added Anaviate.
To support people like Jesse, Christian offered a special at his shop. On June 9, he donated all of the profits he made at work to VisionCorps. He did smaller tattoos, in order to get more done with $100 minimum costs.
All of the money went straight to the non-profit.
"When I started doing tattoos, I was like, 'I want when people wear this, my art, they feel beautiful, amazing or great in their skin. Me doing this for Jesse definitely nailed that. He feels great in his skin, he feels like he just wants to rock that thing out and show everybody," said Anaviate.
Jesse, of course, agrees.
"It's a little different being blind. People don't recognize you, but they see tattoos and actually wanna start talking. They're like, 'Wow, that's a really awesome tattoo, that's fire!' And it really make you feel good inside," he said, "I love it, I really do. It came from his heart and imagination."
At the end of the day, Anaviate did 16 tattoos, raising $1,600 to support VisionCorps.
To learn more about the organization, click here.
