Hello! Wow. Its the first of the month again! Well! This month our Coffee Break is hosted by the lovely Lori Nordstrom, and for the Olive Contest Prize, she is offering to spice up one of your cameras with her very cool camera pepper straps from www.spiceupyourcamera.com.
Now, here comes the opportunity to win yours!
In honor of the “Little Angels” Calendar that Lori Nordstrom devised to contribute to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, please use the comment section here to tell us about your favorite charity and possible ways to contribute to that charity as a photographer. It can be either a brand new idea that you’ve just come up with or it could be something that has been going on for years. We just want to hear about possible ways to give back!
You know, we have a whole section here in Jules Cafe dedicated to charity posts, and I would love to find more inspirational places to check out. After you click the “view/add comments” above this post to leave your comment, be sure to not only check that out, but to read Lori’s Coffee Break!!
Hi there! I’ve come across some really great charities lately…like http://www.ThinkPinkPhotography.org not yet worked with them, but I’m really looking forward to starting!
My very favorite charities are http://www.TreesForHouston.org and http://www.arborday.org. I support them regularly by donating proceeds from each wedding that I book to have trees planted in honor of the couple. It has been a great way to spread awareness as well as commemorate these special events.
I am very new to photography. I’ve only had my camera for a little over a year. Through the last six months I have started doing portraits on a more regular basis. It started to become very time consuming so I did decide to start charging very little. I am currently looking for a workshop that will help me grow as a photographer both in taking better pictures and a business perspective. One thing that is super important to me is giving. It is the way I show my Father in Heaven how thankful I am for all he has given me. I have read quite a few coffebreaks and love hearing how others give back. A couple of ideas I really liked were auctioning off photo sessions for schools and different charitable organizations. The calender idea is great too! One thing I am really interested in is -Now I lay me down to sleep, nowilaymedowntosleep.org (NILMDTS). It is a non profit organization that finds photographers for mothers who have delievered still borns. When I first heard of this the thought made me a little uncomfortable. Then about a years ago I became friends with a mother who had delivered her son silent at 38 weeks. My heart aches more and more for her as we become better friends. She was lucky to have these pictures done for her, and they are the only memories she will ever have of her son.I hope to one day (not to far away) become a contributing photographer to NILMDTS.
There are so many great charities, but http://www.specialdelivery.org/ Is my favorite charity. When I was younger, they were there for me as an unwed pregnant young lady. They gave me choices and options I didn’t know I had. I gave birth to a son that I placed for adoption and he has grown up with a family and things that, at the time I could never have provided for him, thanks to this group, and so many groups like this.
My vision as a photographer is to connect with groups who help with adoptions and give birthparents the option to have portraits of their babies before they give them to their adoptive families. I have snapshots of my son, which is a blessing, but to have something a little bit more would have been wonderful. At the same time of offering this service, I can also offer my love, support and encouragement as a fellow birth mom with the struggles and the joys that it brings. I would like to, hopefully be a part of the reunions when the child is old enough to meet the birthparents as well, and capture those moments for them.
I would also like to offer the service to those in these programs who chose to raise their children, but can’t afford portraits. Children grow up so fast, and those baby pictures are so precious.
These groups offer so much more than just options to these young girls. I can’t even begin to explain how much love and support they put out there. To be a part of such a group in such a small way as offering portraits, what a blessing that will be, and a fabulous way to bring awareness to the options that are out there, especially for adoption.
Hello! I started a project in the Spring of this year, taking baby and family portraits at a local pregnancy care center. Meeting the families and getting the children to smile has been very inspiring! I always come away from the shoot encouraged and excited
Since the center provides services and tests for free or very low cost, plus a ‘closet’ where moms can purchase clothing and baby essentials, I’ve been providing the portrait sessions and prints at no cost to the families. Times can be hard, and having pictures of your smiling children in your house can give you the encouragement to keep going, to stay together as a family, to remember to give extra hugs, kisses, and smiles to each other…so to me, that is worth so much more than getting paid for a session or choosing a print package 
I really want to encourage the moms who come to the center to love their children and be delighted that they have little smiles to enjoy even if the days get tough 
Here’s a link to the blog featuring the children and families! http://www.joyfulchoice.blogspot.com
I belong to Think Pink. I know it isn’t anything new, but it can show how important photography is.
After my grandmother passed away, my uncle started a scholarship to help nursing students. I set aside a portion of my earnings every year to add to that scholarship. It is a great feeling to help add a few nurses to the world.
Hi Jules!
I have to say that my favorite charity is this photographer that works in the area. He takes portraits of pets to raise money for the local animal shelter. He donates his time and talent to help raise money for the shelter. People can bring their pets in and for a donation they can get the pets portrait done and they receive an 8X10 picture. It is a great way for pet lovers to not only get their animals picture taken, but help other animals out in the future. I think it is fantastic.
An organization that I have been involved with for over a year is Flashes of Hope.
http://www.flashesofhope.org/
With this organization I am given the honor of photographing the most amazing children and their families. Providing these families with portraits that they will cherish a lifetime is beyond inspiring. Most of these families have spent many days, weeks, months and years in and out of the hospital. Time constraints and possibly financial constraint make it difficult for them to have a family portrait done. THe families that I have worked with are so grateful and the children enjoy doing something that everyone does and we do not focus on being sick.
Some wonder why you would want portraits of your child when they are sick. A grandfather said it beautifully, Everytime I look at these pictures of my granddaughter I see how beautiful she is, how strong she is and how much she has had to overcome. I see a strong little girl and reminds me to cherish every singe day.
Thanks
Giving back to my community is very important to me. While this isn’t a charity group, one of the things I’ve started doing is to take senior portraits for a select few deserving students who would otherwise not be able to afford them. I’ve asked the counselors to select X amount of students (we have two high schools and the amount chosen depends on the size of the school) who meet certain criteria. They get a free photo session and a CD/DVD of full resolution files, with a print release.
I just recently donated a free photo session and 8″ x 10″ for a charity auction for our local hospital to purchase equipment for their OB/GYN department.
There are some really excellent suggestions here and I glad @Lori mentioned the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep organization, because I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember it! Thanks!
I have given back in documenting the Nashville Rescue Mission with Sarah Barlow and now I just signed up to participate in Image for a Cure and I encourage all photographers to sign up and make a differance..
http://www.imagesforacure.com/
I currently am photog volunteer for NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep). It is a foundation for photogs to volunteer their skills and capture moments for parents who will only have these few momnets captured ever! Most photos taken will be of grieving parents with their newborn who has past. The idea is to capture some tender moments with their baby and capture all the adorable details of their baby as well. It’s sad to know they won’t be able to bring their baby home. But hopefully the moments captured will be with them for a lifetime.
I am also working on a website for my sister. She has a daughter with spina bifida and has had to give up her career to be full-time mommy/nurse/therapist to daughter plus be a wife and mommy to her toddler. Her baby’s Dr. visits equal a full-time job. So she came with an idea to make jewelry to raise awareness for spina bifida. I have been doing the photography for her and have been building her site through BluDomain- it’s not officially launched- launch date will be Sept 7th, but you can check it out at http://kyst.com
I also believe in giving back to our community, so I volunteer my services and shoot for Justin Rudd, CAT, and the LBPost.com when I have time.
ooopsss – I the website I Listed was incorrect for my sister’s spina bifida awareness jewelry line- it’s http://kystbyeverlee.com
Check it out…