(paintbrush scratching) (serene orchestral music) - [Jo Ann] You just instantly become Kim's friend.

It just happens that quickly.

She just had this personality, you were always laughing when you were with Kim.

- It's kinda funny, 'cause myself and Kim were very much kind of opposites.

I always kind of joke and say, "She was the glitter and I was the glue."

We had a very collaborative, you know, relationship when it came to our partnership.

- We just sort of became painting buddies.

You know, in the back of our minds, we were always like, "We've got to do more with art."

And so, Kim said, "You know, we should open a gallery together."

Hence, we started the gallery.

- Her artwork is amazing.

I was always astounded at how she could just come up with some different...

I dunno, just her original artwork, how she came up with different ideas all the time.

(serene orchestral music) - One day, we were sitting out on the beach and she said, "I've got this idea that I wanna start a nonprofit, and I wanna do something to help others and raise money to give to people who are fighting cancer, and they need assistance, and don't have enough insurance or a good insurance, or just need something that insurance doesn't cover."

Paint Pink was born.

- When she was sick for the second time, she had a support group around her that was just tremendous, and she realized that many people didn't have that same support group.

So that's where Paint Pink was a big help.

- [Interviewer] Gotcha, that was great.

- Kim's idea was, we give 'em finances to help them, so they don't have to worry.

It's bad enough you have to think about and be concerned about your health, and then you don't know how you're gonna pay this next bill that's coming in, because cancer is not cheap, it's expensive.

And so, anything that we can do to help alleviate that burden, that's what we do.

Kim died September the 16th, and the people that reached out to me, to Laura, to Nicole, they wanted to do something.

The community stepped up and said, "What can we do?"

(triumphant ethereal upbeat music) - So Kim's Celebration of Life was on October 1st, and that started out Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

We had many events during that time.

The Starving Artist Cafe, formerly owned by Kim, did a Paint the Block Pink, and it was a block party, and we had silent auction, there was a DJ, we sold T-shirts, and it just, really, it was very soon after the Celebration of Life, and I feel like a lot of Kim's friends came and just continued to support.

We set up a memorial at Stockley Gardens with her picture and a book that people could sign, and I spray painted Kim and the breast cancer ribbons on the ground, and tons of people, even people who did not know Kim, stopped by and wrote in the book, and it just was a really nice tribute to her, since she really wanted to do Stockley Gardens Art Show.

We had a brunch at d'Art Center, lots of artists there, who were friends of Kim's, donated original artwork, and we had silent auctions, we had live auctions at the event, and we raised $18,000.

I think it's obvious how much people loved Kim by how much money that we've raised since she was in the hospital.

A bunch of us promised Kim that we would keep Paint Pink alive, to keep her legacy going.

I promised her I would keep the gallery going.

Kim was just this bright light, her smile lit up a room.

- She just wanted to help everyone, like, that's it, she just wants to help.

- We made a promise to her that we would continue Paint Pink to continue her heartbeat, and that's what we're gonna do.

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