On Saturday December 12, 2009, I was apart of history in the making when I volunteered my time at Help Portrait Nashville!
Help Portrait was a vision of
Jeremy Cowart, an amazing photographer that challenged other photographers to give of their time & talent to the less fortunate in their respective cities!
On Saturday as I was recouping from an event from the previous evening, I was so inspired in reading the
tweets from #HelpPortrait that I had to go to
Rockettown in downtown Nashville to see if there was anything I could do to assist in this great effort. Upon arriving, I honestly was taken aback from the laughs, hugs & smiles that I witnessed just in the first 60 seconds of my arrival. I did not know what I would be doing, but I knew that I wanted to help in any way possible.
My first assignment was to be a greeter/hostess to show visitors to the respective stations of food, clothes closet & the photo shoot area. It moved me in so many ways to hear the stories, laughs & tears from those that had their pictures taken, but also for the families that were able to experience their very 1st photo shoot together as a family. Very humbling because we sometimes take even the small things for granted, like having our photos taken even if its just with a camera phone or digital camera. Many of the ladies & also several men that I came in contact with had not had pictures taken of themselves in years & their excitement, made me even more excited to be apart of this journey with them.
As I walked my first family down to the waiting area, they shared stories with me & were simply grateful that someone thought enough of them to have an event like this. Many of the kids, especially the teens girls were ready to unleash their inner diva/model & boy did they work the camera!
After escorting several families, I was then transitioned over to the coat/warm clothes closet which held clothing that was donated for anyone that needed coats, gloves, hats & scarfs!
This experience was amazing and I want to thank Jeremy for listening to that inner voice & wanting to be a blessing someone else this holiday season. This experience was sincere & heartfelt for everyone involved, I kept running the scripture of Matthew 25:36 in my mind, because this was a living example of just that!!
For more information on Help Portait, please visit their
website &
blog and be sure to follow on
Twitter, the amazing efforts of such a powerful movement!
I want to thank Kristyn Hogan for these awesome pictures! For more information on Kristyn or just looking for some wedding eye candy visit
Kristyn Hogan's blog!
