Organizers behind an all-day, Friday-the-13th-themed tattoo event and raffle hope to raise funds to help one little girl who’s recently experienced tragic loss.

The 7-year-old girl was injured in a car accident July 29 on Grand Avenue. Her mother and her mother’s partner survived, but another small child – a boy – who was in the vehicle did not, said the girl’s aunt, Crystal Quintana. 

“Two poor children were involved, and one lost his life,” Quintana said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “The other is continuing to fight for (their life) every day.”

Since the accident the girl has been recovering in a Lubbock, Texas hospital, Quintana said. To ensure that her family can afford medical treatments after she is released from the hospital, Quintana approached several local businesses asking them for help to raise funds.

“I am trying to fundraise as much as possible, so this way … she has everything she’s going to need,” Quintana said. When she approached Pete Rock, the owner of Love Letter Tattoo at 520 Sixth St., the idea came up to have a fundraising event on Sept. 13 – which falls on a Friday. 

Aside from the Friday the 13th fundraiser, Love Letter Tattoo also donated a tattoo worth $500 to be raffled off. The winner of this tattoo will be able to choose a design worth $500, Rock said, which would likely be a tattoo the size of an open hand.

Raffle tickets are $10. They are not being sold at Love Letter Tattoo, Rock cautioned. Anyone interested in a raffle ticket must contact Quintana.

Anyone wanting to participate in the Friday the 13th fundraiser can go to Love Letter Tattoo from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Sept. 13. Rock has created a sheet full of small, No. 13-inspired tattoo designs to choose from. 

Those getting a tattoo on that date will be helped on a first-come, first-served basis, Rock said. Only cash payments will be accepted, and a photo ID will be required of anyone wanting a tattoo, Rock added.

To help ensure that all those who come into the shop on Sept. 13 will be helped, tattoos will  only be placed on arms or legs. The tattoo artists will also be working with only red, yellow and black inks.

“We keep the classic red and yellow, ketchup and mustard color theme just to have a restricted palette so that we can service the demand quickly,” Rock said. 

Fellow tattoo artists Miguel Chavez of Albuquerque and Eric “Inksmith” Pearlman who lives in Mora will be joining Rock to help with what is expected to be a busy Friday the 13th. Rock lauded the work of both Chavez and Inksmith, describing the latter as a “big deal in tattooing.”