Locals Line up for 'Santa Cruz' Tattoos and to Fight Hunger

Keana Parker, 24, got her first tattoo on Labor Day. So did Lucas Cross, 22.

Both are locals who were inspired to get their first tattoos by a promotion sponsored by at 3911 Portola Dr. offering special Santa Cruz tattoos at a good price, $100, and donating part of it to fight hunger.

More than a dozen people got new views of the Cruz tattooed on various body parts.

"I've been talking about it for a long time," said Cross, a cook at New Leaf Community Markets. "This seemed like a good time to do it and for a good cause."

That's the spirit that Grind Out Hunger has been looking for. The charity is reaching out to unconventional philanthropists, such as punk rock musicians, surfers, skaters and tattoo artists.

Parker, a photographer for , said she loved the design and also liked supporting a cause. She spent several hours Labor Day almost in labor as her lifelong artwork developed.

"It doesn't hurt," she said at first. "I expected it to be a lot worse."

But it wasn't painless enough for her to nap during the ink session and after two hours she took a break. Not from the pain of the tattoo needles, but because her body ached from staying in place.

"You'll be back for more," said artist Mike Espinosa, who has been inking bodies for two decades. "Once you have one idea, you have more. You think of all the images in the world you want – it's addicting."

Her friend who lent support agreed. Brooke Leigh Shaw, 20, had a whole arm of ink. Women, said Espinosa, are better clients than men. Having gone through childbirth or wearing high heels, they are better prepared to face the pain.

Parker chose her ribs for the sketch of a woman and the words Santa Cruz because as a sun worshipper, that was the area that would be most protected.

The tattoo also marked a big year of change in her life: she cut and blonded her hair, she pierced her nose and she came to an appreciation of life, that you only go through once, so you have to go to the fullest.

"Go big or go home," she said.