West Windsor teen wins national Parkinson's t-shirt design contest

By Lindsay Rittenhouse | For NJ.com 
April 03, 2016 

Lea Dempsey, 13, with her winning t-shirt design for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation's national contest. (Courtesy of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation)
WEST WINDSOR — Like grandfather, like granddaughter.

West Windsor 13-year-old Lea Dempsey recently won the 7th Annual Parkinson's Awareness T-Shirt Contest with a design inspired by her late grandfather Elwood Dempsey, an artist who suffered from the disease for more than 10 years.

Lea Dempsey, a student at Community Middle School, bested young artists ages 5 to 15 from all over the country.

"He was a very artistic man," Dempsey said of her grandfather. "He painted before the Parkinson's really got to him. We have some of his paintings around the house and I'm always like 'that's so great.' " Her grandfather was also a union painter.

Dempsey's design, a yellow rose with its vine entwined around two holding hands, is already on t-shirts for sale on the website of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, which ran the contest.

Next to the illustration, her design says, "Join the team Ending Parkinson's."

"I kind of had the idea in mind that people should stick together," Dempsey said. "So I had people holding hands and the vine holds them together."

The foundation said Dempsey's design was chosen as a finalist by a committee comprised of artists living with Parkinson's disease.

"The diverse members of the (Parkinson's Disease Foundation) team all share one thing – a commitment to ending Parkinson's," foundation's President, Robin Anthony Elliott, said in a statement. "Through her design, Ms. Dempsey illustrates the commitment beautifully, reminding us that children and young adults are very important members of this team."

Dempsey said she's feels great about winning but even better knowing her design will help bring awareness to Parkinson's.

"The whole family is so supportive of her," Dempsey's mother Kathleen Pagnutti said. "Remember that Ice Bucket Challenge? How many people knew what ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) was before that? There's a lot of people who don't understand what a disease does to a person."

The Ice Bucket Challenge gained national attention a few years ago, with people recording themselves dumping a bucket of ice water on their head, then challenging someone else to do it.

"The more people become aware of Parkinson's, the more help we'll get," Pagnutti said.

Dempsey said she is a self-taught artist who learns from lessons she finds online. She happened to stumble upon the Parkinson's Disease Foundation's t-shirt contest while perusing the Internet one day.

"It was exactly what I wanted to do," Dempsey said. "I just found inspiration online. I'm just really happy. I'm very grateful."

Dempsey's t-shirt are available for purchase on the Parkinson's Disease Foundation's website.

The foundation said thousands of people nationwide will wear her t-shirt, especially during the month of April – Parkinson's disease awareness month. All proceeds go to funding research for the disease, the organization said.

Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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