All of my life I have been passionate about giving back to the world and helping others. I grew up learning about helping people from my parents and grandparents. Throughout the years I participated in various things with my family and school. I would walk for different causes, participate in community activities in our town, donate money, assemble and deliver meals to families in need in our town, and on and on. I have learned that helping someone doesn't need to be a huge gesture. It can be something as small as giving someone a hug or making them a card. Or it can be as big as buying a family Christmas presents or running a race or donating money.

As a 4th grade teacher I strived to instill this value in my students. I would read them books about helping others and giving back. I taught them that a small act can go a long way and really make someone's day and make a difference in their life. My close friend and colleague was also very passionate about charity and helping others. Together we taught an after school class that combined doing art projects and activities with giving back to our community. We also planned lessons together to teach to our classes. We would teach kindness lessons with our students throughout the year. They would do things like make gifts for younger students and deliver them to their classroom, read with a younger class, collect items to donate to a local charity, and the list just goes on. Each year during the holiday season we would do a huge drive for items to put together gift bags for Meals on Wheels recipients. This activity in particular touched my heart. It amazed me to see the students come in the classroom each morning during the collection time with armloads of items. They were so proud to help out. We worked hard to make sure everything was student-led. We were there to guide them, they were in charge. Another big event we held was an annual book drive. Our 4^th graders would collect gently used books from the entire school and hold a book sale during reading week. They would donate all the proceeds to a local charity. Again, they did it all on their own. They had to ask the principal for permission, decide on a charity to sponsor, make and hang up posters, send home flyers, organize the books, run the sale each day, clean up, count the money. Those are just a couple of examples. I truly hope I was able to inspire those young little minds and hearts.

I have since left the classroom but still enjoy working with kids and remain passionate about helping out. I am part of a women's group and volunteer in the community. I take part in races and other charity events around the community. I decided it was time to combine my joy of helping others with my love for photography.

During the month of December I ran a special promotion. For every photo session booked, I donated $10 to the client's favorite charity. I got such a positive response that after giving it some thought I decided to do it year round. Beginning in January, 2017 $10 of each photo session or event will be donated to a local charity. Since working with children is something dear to me, I chose local organizations that help children and their families. When you book a session or event, choose which organization you would like me to make a donation. Or you can choose a cause that is important to you. Let's give back together!