This Christmas I received a wonderful gift – a credit to be used on Kiva (check out the site here!).

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. By choosing a loan on Kiva, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the entrepreneur you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

I absolutely love this idea!

Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, Kiva gains access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Their partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, their partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them.

I’ve made three (3) donations/loans, so far!

I can’t wait to see how it goes! Just another way to make a difference . . .

One of the most important goals that I want to continually emphasize in my photography business is the idea of “giving back”. To that end I have recently been donating a lot of my time to charitable causes in hopes that their important messages may be relayed through my photography.

Photography can be a very powerful tool to get a message heard since it’s one of the only ways we are actually able to freeze time and capture a moment, relay a message, or convey a thought . . .

A couple of weeks ago I photographed a woman named Kathy Waltz who was being showcased by a local Central Florida magazine for her considerable efforts in the community via Heart of Florida United Way (link), specifically with two wonderful organizations – Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida (link) and BETA Center (link).

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is a private, nonprofit organization that collects, stores and distributes donated food to more than 450 nonprofit partner agencies in six (6) Central Florida counties! The place was absolutely amazing with hundreds of thousands of pieces of donated food items in their warehouses. A truly incredible operation, to say the least!

BETA Center is another very important agency which focuses on parenting, teen moms and at-risk families. They reach over 17,000 people annually through the areas of Parenting Education Services, Pregnant/Parenting Teen Programs, Neighborhood-based Family Services, Emergency Family Support Services and the Residential Program!

I had heard of both of these programs in the past but wasn’t really familiar with what it was they actually accomplished in the community until this documentary project. Needless to say traveling to both Second Harvest and BETA Center was an eye-opening experience for me and I’m very thankful to have been asked to help tell their stories! Both of these centers, as well as the people who staff them are remarkable!

I’ve always believed volunteering to be a very honorable way to spend one’s time . . . and I’m amazed and thankful at how documenting these agencies and charitable causes via photography has really forced me to become intimately familiar with each and every cause!

I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Last week I volunteered to document Great Strides – a charity walk meant to raise funds and awareness for the battle against Cystic Fibrosis. I went to the event knowing very little about Cystic Fibrosis but the event certainly had its intended effect on me . . . I now know that Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide).

In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend elementary school. Today, advances in research and medical treatments have further enhanced and extended life for children and adults with CF. Many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond. Sure, that’s a great improvement but there’s still a long way to go.

Some of the people at the event were telling me of some pretty major advancements in the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis. In fact, some of the testing is occurring right here in Orlando! I met a lot of great people at the Great Strides event and learned about a great cause in the process. Click here to learn more about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and what they’re doing to cure CF!

I think I was most impacted by the incredible kids at this event – unless somebody were to tell you a child was affected with Cystic Fibrosis you would likely have no idea. They’re normal, happy little kids!

It was a great event and I really look forward to working with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation again in the future!  Here are a couple more of the characters from last weekend’s event . . .

When it comes to choosing a charity to which we’d like to donate our time or our money, we typically choose based on either life experience or we may have heard about the charity through word of mouth.

I try to donate my time whenever possible, but when it comes to donating cash there are two great websites that I use which are devoted to helping you with that effort – Network for Good and Charity Navigator.

Charity Navigator is an independent charity evaluator which evaluates the financial health of America’s largest charities! It’s full of information on hundreds of charities so you can know exactly where your dollars are going. Pretty important in this day and age of bogus charities and horrible people taking advantages of the kind-hearted.

Network for Good is another great site where you can give to your favorite charity/charities and have all your donation records stored and accessible at any time! The website is safe and secure and the site meets the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance standards for charity accountability! In fact, since its inception more than 400,000 donors have contributed more than $100 million dollars using the Network for Good giving system!

Again, both websites are safe and secure . . . I use them all the time! In fact, here are my Top 5 charities:

Animal

The Humane Society of the United States (view website)

The Humane Society of the United States promotes the protection of all animals

Environment

E+Co (view website)

E+Co’s underlying purpose is to stimulate long-term, institutionalized channels of investment in environmentally superior forms of energy production and use in developing countries

Health

Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation (view website)

The Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation was founded to help and find the cure for diabetes and until that goal is achieved, to provide the care needed to combat the detrimental and life-threatening complications of this terrible disease

International Medical Corps (view website)

International Medical Corps is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs

Water for People (view website)

Throughout the world, Water for People uses water as a catalyst for change in communities that lack access to drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene education

We’ve all been there . . . you drive up to a stop light and see a person down on their luck, usually holding a small sign made from cardboard, asking for a little bit of help. Some ask for money, some ask for food. Seems like every time I encounter a situation like this I end up lost in thought for a few seconds while I’m sitting there waiting for the light to turn green.

There have been times when I’ve given money and/or whatever food I have in my car at the time. But, these days there are so many horrible stories of groups of people who prey on the kindness of society and ask for handouts when they don’t really need them, and some even make hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in the process. Or, you never know whether or not the money you give to homeless is going for food or something worse, like alcohol or drugs.

I recently heard a great recommendation on a photography site I frequent (OpenSource Photo). Rather than giving money why not just give McDonald’s gift certificates? Now, I am not a fan of fast food chains but a book of five (5) $1.00 meal coupons can get you quite a bit at McDonalds – even a complete meal. And McDonald’s is everywhere! Oh, and for my friends from outside the U.S. who frequent this blog I believe the gift certificates are only good in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. You might check with your local McDonald’s to make sure that’s the case.

To make things easier it’s possible to purchase these gift certificates online or at your local McDonald’s store. So, here I’m including a link to the McDonald’s gift certificate website.

Most restaurant chains offer gift certificates – I only chose McDonald’s because they are everywhere. It’s so easy to keep a stack of these gift certificates in the glove compartment of your car, and next time you encounter someone down on their luck you might just be able to provide them with a warm meal and a much needed morale-boost!

Yesterday was a great day! I got to hang out with (and photograph) some current friends and a friend from the past! For those who know baseball you probably recognize the guy on the left (Johnny Damon – NY Yankees) – but, if you really know baseball you might know about the guy on the right. His name is Danny Allie . . . Danny was JD’s high school baseball coach, but what’s REALLY ironic is that Danny was my very first football coach and one of my first baseball coaches!

Some of my most valuable “life” lessons I learned from that guy! It was awesome spending time with Danny yesterday – I hadn’t seen him in about 14 or 15 years!!! I’ve known Johnny since I was about 19 years old and he was 16! Danny introduced Johnny to me back around 1990 because JD was trying to decide between entering the major league baseball draft and going to the U. of Florida (where I was playing football at the time). Danny asked me to meet JD to impart some of my very young and very limited wisdom and I said “of course”. Johnny and I were both kids at the time but what struck me that day and what has stayed with me until this day is that Johnny referred to me as “sir” throughout that entire first conversation. At the time I was shocked that a 16-year-old would call a 19-year-old “sir”, but it just speaks to JD’s character and upbringing. Oh, and in case you were wondering what my advice was to JD way back then – I told him that I thought he should go to college . . . ummm, I think he was wise not listening to me . . .

So, Johnny asked if I could come by to capture some images during his photo session for Sports Illustrated for Kids! And, of course, that’s why Danny was there, too . . . JD with his high school baseball coach. It looks like it’s going to be a great pictorial!

Johnny needed some shots to post on his brand new website that was put together for his foundation, the Johnny Damon Foundation (johnnydamonfoundation.com). He is involved with several charities and he really hasn’t changed much as a person since our first meeting about 16 years ago! He’s a guy who wants to give back to the community and a genuinely nice guy . . . check out his site and support his causes, if you can – they’re all worthwhile charities!