Dallas PPA Charities |
Dallas PPA, as an educator and promoter of photography advancement, encourages our members to give to their favorite charitable organizations and find a way to use their gifts to help those in their communities.
Below are a few charities PPA and DPPA support. This list is not here to limit charities, but to inspire support of these and other charities.
www.operationsmile.orgOperation Smile is an international organization that provides safe surgeries for those born with cleft lip and cleft palate, mostly children, in 34 countries. Many of these children are unable to receive proper medical care, and being born with a cleft condition can be fatal or the cause of bullying and social isolation. PPA has partnered with Operation Smile for years, and provided so many new smiles.
Flashes of Hope provides portraits for children who have childhood cancer. Their goal is to help the children see themselves differently: as strong instead of weak, survivors instead of sick. But sometimes these are the last professional portraits their families have of them. Flashes of Hope schedules sessions at area hospitals at certain times during the year. Please see their website for details.
Heart Gallery of America helps raise adoption awareness by displaying traveling galleries of portraits of waiting children within our foster system. A beautiful portrait that captures a child’s spirit can also help them be chosen for adoption, changing their lives forever.
Started by Jeremy Cowert and Kyle Chowning in 2008, Help Portrait allows photographers, makeup artists, and hair stylists around the world to give back in their own communities by providing portraits to those who might not otherwise have them. Look for a local project that interests you and sign up!
National Adoption Day is another event to help raise awareness for adoption. Each year, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a group of Dallas PPA volunteers photographs families just after their adoptions become finalized at the Dallas courthouses – their very first family portraits! Participants have called this a life-changing event! You may contact Rob Hull with questions or contact Becky Martinez, the coordinator, directly. Her number is 214-683-2234.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep seeks the help of photographers, assistants, and retouchers who can assist in providing bereavement photos to families who have lost babies, often through stillbirth. These portraits are often done in the hospital. It is possible to shadow a photographer to learn. Photographers must have a background in portraiture and understand how to use lighting.
Operation: Love Reunited offers professional photography services and photography gifts to our military families undergoing or coming home from deployment. Their goal is to make those long months go by a little faster and to capture moments that will always be treasured.
www.specialkidsphotography.com
This is an organization that offers certification to photographers who wish to work with children with special needs. The understanding, training, and patience to draw out these beautiful children is well rewarded by the gratitude of their families. Our own Lucy Huffstetter serves on their board and can address questions.
Capturing Hopes provides high quality professional photography for families with premature and NICU babies nationwide. Their goal is to track the progress of their baby’s growth the entire time they are in the NICU, providing HOPE in the midst of a chaotic hospital situation. Lilla Cummings is our local contact.
Dallas PPA Gives Back
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