Moving Pictures Tattoo Cinema joins with Panda Express to raise funds for student lunch debt at Warsaw Schools. From left are Alex Neff, MPTC social media manager; Chase Castillo, Panda Express manager; Nathan Underneath, resident artist; Morgan Conn and Jackson Moeller, apprentice, Photo provided by Nathan Underneath.

By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is a series focusing on local people and businesses we use every day without realizing their fascinating backstories.

The Tattoo Artist

WARSAW — “People expect me to look like a tattoo artist,” Nathan Underneath gestured at his hair and body piercings and tattoos as he showed me around his studio. Of course, his appearance works great when someone is looking for a tattoo, but other people have trouble seeing beneath the awe-inspiring art on his arms.

When Underneath first considered opening a tattoo place in the downtown district of Warsaw, he ran into trouble with some people’s expectations. No tattoo place had ever been allowed in the C-4 Business District before Moving Pictures Tattoo Cinema.

But Underneath didn’t give up when heard the word “no,” he used the skills he had learned as an engineering consultant before morphing into a tattoo artist. First, he went door to door downtown to convene business owners. He managed to get a petition for a zoning board operational variance signed by 250 people.

Leah Sander, InkFreeNews, interviews Nathan Underneath about his fundraising efforts for the student lunch debt.

“If no one takes the uphill battles, we never get anywhere.” Underneath paused our conversation to greet a customer. “But after we got the tattoo place approved, I had so many local business people come tell me we are so glad you are here.”

These days MPTC has a wide breadth of clientele. I hung out in the shop for a few hours and saw students, emergency personnel, young people, older people, people in suits, people in every kind of clothing style you might imagine. All kinds of people feel comfortable in this space. Underneath straightened one of the many paintings he has in the gallery room. “I promised to be a blessing to my community and enrich the lives of those around me.”

“But we have to be willing to do the work,” MPTC Social Media Director Alex Neff added. “We have to be willing to do the work.” Neff is skilled at creating reels which you can find in MPTC marketing on Instagram and Facebook.

The Warsaw Community Schools food Services Director

Clearly Underneath isn’t afraid of uphill battles, and he notices when other people have uphill battles too. When he heard about the struggles some local kids and families have with paying their school lunch bill, he immediately called Warsaw Community Schools Food Service Director Stacie Light to see what he could do to help.

Stacie told him that some local schools have up to 75% of their student population on the free or reduced-price lunch program (based on family income). She also told him the school policy is never to deny a student a meal. Although it’s vital for students to eat in order to learn, it also means that debt begins to accumulate in a student’s account.

Laura Arnett and Teresa Helm work with bone in wings not yet sauced. Photo provided by Stacie Light, food services director for Warsaw Community Schools.

Warsaw Schools created an “Angel Donation Fund” which helps to match student lunch debt from outside donations. Nonetheless, starting at the beginning of the start of school in August 2023 until now, approximately $13,000 of lunch debt has accumulated, primarily from students on the reduced-price lunch program.

“We have an achievable solution here,” Underneath says thoughtfully. In a recent Facebook post he wrote, “Did you know that only $20 will buy 50 reduced-priced meals for a child in the public schools?” Underneath originally intended to help in a small way by choosing a few families, but after talking to Stacie Light, his vision grew and he began to consider ways to pay off the entire $13,000.

Stacie told me, “On more than one occasion, families that have been helped by others in the past, have paid it forward to assist other students. It is just one small act of kindness that will generate a ripple that spreads to many.” Stacie provided pictures of her amazing staff and also of one of their favorite thankful-student notes posted on the kitchen door at Lincoln Elementary. The note reads, “Dear Lunch Teachers, you are amazing lunch teachers because you make food all the time for almost everyone and you are just amazing.”

Food-Flash Collection

Underneath had an idea to raise the cash needed. He and other artists got together and created a Tattoo Food Flash Collection, which features tattoos with food themes. Think smiling cherries or happy sushi.

Underneath and his partners will donate all proceeds from this collection of tattoos to the Food Lunch Program. Stop by MPTC to see the tattoos. Since he announced the program, lots of generous people have reached out to donate at the shop located at 112 E. Center St. Warsaw or via Venmo: @movingpicturestattoocinema (memo: FEED KIDS).

The local downtown business group that calls itself Go-Rogue-Warsaw has also helped. For example, Biryani Indian restaurant offered $500 to help. Anyone in the community can also contact Stacie Light at WCHS Food Services at (574) 371-5098 to donate.

The Panda Partnership

Most exciting of all, Underneath connected with a corporate sponsor in Warsaw. Panda Express Warsaw sponsored the effort by donating 100 free meal vouchers. For any individuals/ families willing and able to contribute $20 or more (which provides 50 reduced-priced lunches), Underneath will give a voucher for a free plate or bowl, as a thank you from Panda Express.

He’s An Armful

Underneath marks the location of a tattoo as the client describe his tattoo.

I interviewed Underneath at multiple locations over the last three weeks including a visit to learn about the Milford Food Bank Operation. I also watched him skillfully apply a full-arm sleeve tattoo on Matthew Smith, owner and headmaster of Juko-Ryu Toide Martial Arts Center and Art of Dance Warsaw Studio. I noticed that Underneath works with a ring light over his head to provide good light. From my perspective, it appeared as if he had a halo.

On a break, Smith held up his arm to show me another tattoo. “It’s the bushido code of the samurai,” he told me. “It basically means to serve.” Service and community are themes everywhere you look. The WCHS Food Service and MPTC collaboration provides a powerful example of how creativity and community spirit can make meaningful differences.

If you want to chat with Underneath about a tattoo or a donation, you can book a Moving Pictures Consultation from 2-10 p.m. Wednesdays.

Know of an interesting place, board, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured behind the scenes someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].