Cupid hits the local Red Cross this weekend, matchmaking handmade jewelry by Artists in Action and delicious Venezuelan Chuao chocolates from Coupa Café.

This Valentine’s Day-inspired event sparks the beginning of February with charity in the limelight at the Coupa Cosas (536 Ramona St.) gallery from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday in Palo Alto.

According to the mastermind behind Artists in Action, Carina Rossner, all of the proceeds from sales of the creations, crafted by Artists in Action, an artist guild which creates works exclusively for charity fundraising purposes, will go to the Red Cross to help fund critical health and disaster relief programs. The Coupa Café has opened its studio doors to Artists in Action for a discounted price, and 10% of the money from the chocolates will be donated to the Red Cross. The Stanford Blood Mobile will also be stationed at the event on Friday to collect donations.

Rossner decided after surviving an ordeal with cancer that led to two surgeries and three rounds of physical therapy, that she wanted to give back to the community.

"I had a lot of time to contemplate my life and what I really wanted to do with it before I croaked," Rossner said.

The result was Artists in Action.

"Given all I had gone through, I decided that selling jewelry for a good cause would be the best solution [to spend my time]."

Together with Trish Bubenik, executive director of the Palo Alto Red Cross chapter, Rossner set up a series of fundraisers. The first show they organized was for tsunami relief in February of 2005. Rossner continued to pull together shows for the Community Breast Health Project, the American Cancer Association and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

For this upcoming event, Rossner hopes to acquire substantial monetary and blood donations desperately needed by the Red Cross. She strives to not only obtain donations, but also to raise awareness about the Red Cross programs. Rossner also urges any interested artists to contact her about joining Artists in Action to help out the community.