Will Work for Food – 2012

Here we go again…for the third year in a row we Will Work for Food; pet food for the SPCA of Winchester, Frederick and Clarke Counties. We are doing sessions May 19 & 20, June 2 & 3 and June 9 & 10. We still have numerous dates open for each day in June, so call now before we get fully booked and you miss your chance.

The SPCA of Winchester, Frederick and Clarke Counties needs all the help we can give them. They have no dedicated funding source and all their money comes from donations or adoption fees. The first year out we raised about 300lbs of food. Not too bad for a new program. Last year we upped that to 600lbs of food. Getting better, but we still want more and I think we can do better. This year our goal is 1 ton of food for the shelter. I know it’s a lofty goal, but this year we have some help.

We have several local businesses helping us to advertise the program. Posh Pets Boutique on S. Loudoun Street in Winchester, Linden Heights Animal Hospital on Linden Drive in Winchester, Dr. Cheryl K. Robson, O.D., P.C. & Valley Vision Center on Cedar Creek Grade in Winchester and Children of America on Jubal Early Drive in Winchester are all helping us get the word out about Will Work for Food.

In addition, we have a sponsor this year. Southern States Cooperative on Amherst Street in Winchester has generously given us discount coupons for bags of pet food and they are matching all food donations pound-for-pound!

Here’s how the program works; we offer our clients a 30 minute portrait session and a complimentary 5×7 print for the donation of a 40 lb bag of dry pet food. That’s a $110.00 value for the price of a bag of pet food. If you buy it at Southern States, it’s less than $25.00 for a 40lb bag. Double your donation to 80lbs and you will receive a free 8×10 print in addition to the 5×7!

We have several repeat clients already booked for this year. Kimberlee and her gorgeous German Shepard, Zar (pictured above) will be joining us for the third year. Our good friends Rick & Michele came out with their kids and their Pug, Mollie Pearl, for the 2nd year. Samantha and Adam are coming back with little Cheyanne. We have always been absolutely captivated by Cheyanne’s big blue eyes and beautiful smile. The portrait below of her sitting in the leather chair is one of my new favorite images ever. We photographed several other old friends and made some new friends as well. We hope we have the opportunity to photograph all of them again many times in the years ahead.

If you are interested in staying informed about the next Will Work for Food or any other Story Tellers news, you can subscribe to our blog or visit our website and use the signup box on the home page to receive our email newsletter.

Will Work for Food…

An interesting idea…Will Work for Food; portraits for pet food.

I got the idea last year reading an article about a fellow photographer in Tennessee that was doing something similar. We talked it over, added our own personal touch and worked out some details with the SPCA of Winchester, Frederick and Clarke Counties. We settled on them because they do not have a dedicated funding source. Their only funding comes from adoption fees and donations; this made them ideal partners to us, because we felt they were trying to do the most with the least and really needed the help.

With the downturn in the economy, especially during 2010, they were stretched to capacity by people who had to give up their pets because they couldn’t afford them any longer. This is a very sad thought for me. I can’t imagine having to give up our 2 furry children.

Here’s how the program works; we offer our clients a 30 minute portrait session and a complimentary 5×7 print for the donation of a bag of dry pet food. For our last round of sessions we required a minimum 25lb bag of dry pet food. Not a bad deal if we do say so ourselves.

Our first round of sessions was in September 2010 and we managed to raise about 300 pounds of pet food. A good effort for the first time out, but we wanted more…much more. We did more marketing this time around and had a much larger response and booked about 50% more sessions than the first time.

We had some repeat clients from the first group of sessions including Kimberlee and her gorgeous German Shepard, Zar (pictured above). Our good friends Rick & Michele came out with their kids and their Pug, Mollie Pearl. This session was very special for all of us, not only are they very close friends, but this was the first portrait they had done as a family after adopting their beautiful baby boy, Evan. Samantha and Adam came out with little 7 month old Cheyanne. We were absolutely captivated by Cheyanne’s big blue eyes and beautiful smile. The portrait of her sitting in the leather chair is one of my new favorite images ever. We photographed several other old friends and made some new friends as well. We hope we have the opportunity to photograph all of them again many times in the years ahead.

All of that amounted to 600 pounds of pet food during this last round of sessions. Now, most people would be thinking that doubling the amount of food is great…and it is. We are deeply grateful to our clients for helping us make this happen, but…you knew it was coming…we want more.

For the next round of sessions we are working on a partnership with a local retailer in an effort to get our food total even higher and see if we can stretch the capacity of the SPCA’s storage area instead of their shelter.

If you are interested in staying informed about the next Will Work for Food or any other Story Tellers news, you can subscribe to our blog or visit our website and use the signup box on the home page to receive our email newsletter.

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