I've wanted to be a missionary since high school. Half way through college I took a year off and worked with a volunteer group in Costa Rica. I spent 7 months in 3 different locations: the jungle in Limon, a farm village in Nicoya, and a mountain town called San Ramon. Unfortunately, the group that I was with wasn't really set up for volunteers and I kind of felt like dead weight most of the time. I came back to the states with my eyes opened but I don't know if my time there was helpful for anyone but myself. Anyways, that was years ago and I haven't really done anything like it since. It would be incredible to be able to give a few weeks a year and do some photography for some of these groups; maybe help promote their causes. That will take some serious planning though with weddings most weekends, a new studio, and a wife and kid. The bottom line is (and congrats if you're still reading) there are some groups out there that are more organized and dedicated than I can be and I think it would be a great idea to at least give them some financial support even if I can't donate tons of time right now.
10%. That's the percentage we're going to be donating from every wedding, portrait session, and print sale.
Right now we have 6 different organizations that we're going to be working with and we're going to let our clients choose which group their 10% goes to. I'm really excited because it's a way for each one of our clients to give back just by using our services.
Here are the organizations:
Operation Smile
More than 200,000 children are born with a severe cleft condition each year — often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected. And in too many cases, their parents can't afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life.
That's where we come in. Since 1982, Operation Smile — through the help of dedicated medical volunteers — has provided free surgeries to children in more than 50 countries, healing their smiles and bringing hope for a better future.
Charity Water
Almost a billion people on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water. That's one in eight of us. charity:water is a non-profit organzation bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of your donation will directly fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Each $20 can give one person clean, safe drinking water for 20 years.
CNEWA
Founded in 1926 by Pope Pius XI, Catholic Near East Welfare Association's (CNEWA) mandate is: to support the pastoral mission and institutions of the Eastern Catholic churches; to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need without regard to nationality or creed; to promote Christian unity and inter-religious understanding and collaboration; and to educate people in the West about the history, cultures, peoples and churches of the East. CNEWA does not have inflexible priorities - they are set based upon time, place and urgency of need. We do not compete; if other agencies are doing good work, we leave it to them. CNEWA addresses those needs that would otherwise "fall through the cracks," enabling the power of love to reach men, women and children in need
Partners in Health
Partners In Health is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts, and active in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Russia, and the United States. Our mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. Through service, training, advocacy, and research, and by establishing long-term relationships with sister organizations, PIH strives to achieve two overarching goals: to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair.
Acumen Fund
Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. We seek to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Our investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services – like health, water, housing and energy – through innovative, market-oriented approaches.
