GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
"Life is good when you are happy;
but much better when others are happy because of you."
-Pope Francis
I've said it. Odds are you've said it too.
"I'll donate next time."
Well next time is here!
For every purchase made, 5% will be donated to a charity of your choice.* This includes your session fee, prints, keepsakes, and anything else you purchase from me. Nearly every month, I'll have a charity featured for your consideration. The best part? You don't need to do anything and the donations won't cost you anything extra!
Read below for more information.
HOW MY DOG AND MEMES INSPIRED MY BUSINESS
Kalea in Hawaiian means "Joy" and she lives up to her name. She was given to me by a coworker and accepting to take her in was the best decision I've ever made. I was looking for some joy and found it in her. She makes me smile every day, my mental health is brighter, and she inspires me to bring joy to others constantly.
It was this inspiration that had me asking, "How can I share joy?" and that prayer was answered in the form of my coworker. He reminded me of Eeyore with his deep drawling "Helllooo". So I started sending him funny memes, short inspiring stories and headlines, and comedic videos once a day, every day. Slowly but surely, I started noticing a shift.. When he came into the office, his "hello" was no longer drawn out and deep (now it matches his mischievous personality), the same with he answers the phone, and he has more jokes to share when we're together. He rarely responds to my messages, but the happier "Hello"s make all the Pinterest scrolling worth it!
All of this is a great example of how something so small can have a big impact. I used to wonder if the donation jar really make a difference - only if there's coins in it. With your help, that donation jar is going to do wonders!
WHAT I'M DOING
You're making an incredible investment in your memories and I respect that you'd want your hard earned money going towards a worthy charity. That's why all suggested charities will be vetted before I make my donation. I use a variety of online charity watch dogs as part of my vetting process.
For groups that are not an official organization (i.e. a church youth group), I will use every available outlet to learn more about the organization in order to make an informed decision.
*Charity donations are made at my discretion. Donations will not be made to for-profits, hate groups, illegitimate organizations, and the like.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
If you choose to suggest a charity or non-profit, I highly encourage naming organizations that you know and believe in. I know many people are also using crowd-funding platforms like GoFundMe - again, I suggest that you name accounts that you know.
For more information:
FTC: How to Donate Wisely & Avoid Charity Scams >
Consumer Reports: Best & Worst Charities for Your Donations >
FEATURED CHARITY
The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.