Today, I would like to let all of you know about something that is photography related. Our adoption was finalized this past Wednesday, and we are having a party to celebrate, tomorrow. But the topic of this post is the Heart Gallery. We found our daughter through AdoptUSkids, one of many adoption related photolisting sites. Most of the states in the US have a site with listings of kids available for adoption.
But some states take it a step further and have Heart Galleries, which include photos of adoptable kids, taken voluntarily by professional photographers in that particular state. I haven’t seen it in Arizona yet, but I have inquired about getting one started here. Anyway, I think it is very important to get the word out there about these kids.
And combining great photography with a worthwhile cause is near and dear to me. I used to take pictures of the animals at the local shelter and make posters from the photos, to make people more aware of those animals. There is nothing like a picture of a child or a cute animal to pull at the heartstrings of the viewer.
Michelle, over at the fostadopt blog at Adoptionblogs.com has written several posts about the heart gallery. And I mentioned it in one of my posts, at my foster care blog, also at Adoptionblogs.com.
As a photographer, I work a lot with families and children and I know how important it is to these kids that they belong to a family. Not all kids are that lucky. Visit the heart gallery sites and tell everyone you know about them. Maybe we can get something started here.
If you are a photographer, or know your local photographer well enough, suggest that they get involved. If they are already volunteering of their time and services, tell them thank you for me. And if you know of anyone in Arizona that is interested in starting a heart gallery, let them know that I am available. You can contact me for more information, or if you have any questions. Thanks!