Young Artist Raises Money Selling Her 'Heart Work' For Kentucky Relief Fund

CHICAGO (CBS) – People are pitching in to help following the devastating tornado that ripped through Kentucky last weekend, including a young artist who is raising money selling her 'Heart Work'.

10-year-old Emmy Gayle raised close to $1,500 selling pieces of her artwork made with sea glass she collected along the beaches in Wilmette Illinois. Each piece is in the shape of a heart to symbolize support for those affected.

"We did a heart because we wanted to show that Kentucky was is in our hearts and we wanted to do something that didn't use all of the sea glass because we wanted to sell more with the seas glass we had," she said.

What started as a Facebook post from her mother gained attention from a lot of interested buyers. The goal to raise money for the relief is close to their hearts as they have family in Kentucky.

"It was kind of like scary because I knew that, like our family lives there and I didn't know if they were okay. And, like I didn't know if the people who got hit by the tornado were okay. I didn't know if they still had a home they can sleep in," Emmy said.

Her original goal was to sell 25 pieces but the response has been so great that the young artist is close to capacity with her orders -- up to 50 pieces ordered.

"Just being a proud dad, and kind of get the word out just so people are aware that there are still opportunities through these other charitable organizations to give back," said Rob Gayle, father.

Emmy plans to sell her art until she is out of sea glass. All the proceeds will go to the Western Kentucky Relief Fund.