Help Portrait ~ Time & Talent

Mark and I were privileged to be a part of Help Portrait on Saturday.  Actually, Mark was there most of the day but since I had gotten home at 1:30 am that morning from Garrett's game, I was only there for a few hours.  I am so thankful for those few hours.  It was an amazing day of giving of time and talents.  We had never heard of Help Portrait until we decided to do 30 Days of Giving this year.  When I contacted Cobblestone to find out ways to get involved in the community, Help Portrait was one of the initiatives they support.  

The day started around 7:00 am with set up.  Families started arriving around 9:00 to get their pictures taken.  There were 10 photographers around the Root School cafeteria set up with lights and back drops.  Before the families had their picture made, they were taken to "Hair & Make-up", where the Paul Mitchell Beauty School was all set up.  It was impressive.  They curled and styled hair and fixed make-up and even trimmed beards.  Then the families had a full photo shoot with one of the photographers.  After that, the family was served breakfast or lunch while their pictures were edited and printed.  The editing room had about 10 people on computers, several printers and an assembly line where the pictures were put into frames and bagged with the CD of all the pictures.  It was efficient!!  I only waited on my pictures for 20 minutes!!  My family was not even finished eating yet.  When I showed them their pictures the dad teared up.  The family I walked through with had lost all their pictures in the Johnson flood last year.  Another lady was there with the cutest little boy.  She said she was his grandma and his mom.....his mother had died during childbirth.  This was the first pictures they had taken together.  

I don't know if I have ever been a part of something I enjoyed more.  There was not a lot of money or toys to be collected.  People just gave of their time and talent......cooking, editing, photography, organizing, doing hair and make-up, serving and more.  It was incredible.  

Each family left with a 5x7 framed picture, a 4x6 picture and a CD of all the pictures.  They also received a hygiene bag full of goodies.  Almost 300 people came to Help Portrait and left with a smile on their face from a very fun experience.  

What a creative way to give!!