Shutterfly surprises young Long Island artists with Times Square billboard

Kelli-Rose Simpson Forde, 7, of Elmont, and Xavier Garcia, 5, of Lindenhurst, both won a submission contest by Shutterfly about the COVID-19 pandemic.

News 12 Staff

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Jun 30, 2020, 6:34 PM

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Updated 1,635 days ago

Two children from Long Island are making a big difference for some essential workers.

Kelli-Rose Simpson Forde, 7, of Elmont, and Xavier Garcia, 5, of Lindenhurst, both won a submission contest by Shutterfly about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their drawings are now in lights on a billboard in Times Square.

April Yeomans, Xavier’s mother, says she didn’t tell the boy he had won the contest until they got to New York City and saw his drawing in lights on 42nd Street.

“We were like, ‘Do you see something?’…and he’s like “How did it get up there?’” she said.

Kelli-Rose's grandfather, Kelvin, is a transportation worker for the MTA and came down with COVID-19 in March. She wanted to thank all the essential workers through her art.

Shutterfly's #CreateThanks campaign donated $750,000 to COVID-19 relief.