aline smithson: collect.give

My amazing, generous and talented friend Aline Smithson has pretty much knocked me out this morning. Please take the time to read the following, which is what appears on her blog today. This is a fantastic opportunity to own one of Aline's gorgeous images and to help the kids at St. Mary Kevin, too. It doesn't get much better than that!

Imagine, Aline Smithson

"I am honored and excited to have my image, Imagine, be the newest offering on the terrific charity site, Collect.Give. Founded in 2009 by photographer Kevin Miyasaki, Collect.Give is a place to collect contemporary photography and donate to worthy causes at the same time. It would mean so much to me to have you join me in this venture. The following is from the Collect.Give website:

'The participating photographers have pledged to donate 100% of the profits from their print sales to their chosen charitable organizations. Neither the photographers nor collect.give have pre-arranged associations with the organizations to which funds are donated. Rather, the photographers will make individual contributions with the funds raised. Purchasing prints on collect.give is not considered tax deductible.'

After much consideration, I decided that I would like to support the amazing organization, Change the Truth founded by photographer Gloria Baker Feinstein. Gloria was in Uganda as a participant in an NGO workshop and spent the majority of her time photographing at AIDS orphanages. Upon her return, she could not shake what she had witnessed and was determined to make a difference . She reached out to her Kansas City community and to friends around the county, and was able to 'adopt' the St. Mary Kevin Orphanage.

St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood is home to about 190 orphans and disadvantaged children. It provides shelter, food, security, clothing, medicine, love, access to education and training in vocational skills. The orphanage has few resources because of limited government programs and extremely high poverty levels. Children at St. Mary Kevin have come to Uganda from as far away as Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, Congo, Chad and Niger. They have been abandoned, often abused and mistreated. Many of the children come from northern Uganda, where they have lost their families to war. The way things are, these children have little hope. That's their truth... but with your support, we can change it.

Gloria is a long time friend, and to watch her commitment to these children has been remarkable and inspirational. She represents the best of our community, using her photography to change the world. Each December, Gloria and a team of Change the Truth volunteers travels to Uganda, rolls up sleeves and offers on the ground assistance to the children and staff at the orphanage. You can read a bit about these trips on the NEWS page or, much more extensively, on Gloria's blog. If you are interested in participating, please contact Gloria!

Please consider purchasing an image as all the proceeds will go directly to Change the Truth. I pick up the costs of printing, preparing, and shipping the work as my donation. If I am lucky enough to have the edition sell out, please consider making a donation no matter how large or small which would allow Gloria to bring even more supplies this December. $40 would mean so much to these children, and isn't that what it's all about, changing their truth?"