As you may be aware, a number of well-respected photographers in our field came together on April 7th to hold a fundraiser event aimed at supporting those social service organizations that work directly with the most vulnerable groups within our population every single day during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organized by our community’s good friend, Rich Baum, an online Q&A panel was held that included some notable figures in our field including: Rich Baum, Brian Berkowitz, Wayne Capili, Sam Chen, Tony Colangelo, Garey Gomez, Gary Kasl, Tacey Jungmann, Jordan Powers, Matthew Stallone, and Dee Zunker, with the event capably hosted by Vince Collura of VHT.

Smashing through the Goal!

The event's goal was to raise $5,000 for The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) COVID-19 Response Fund. The CDP focuses on supporting non-profit organizations working directly with the most vulnerable populations in order to help build their capacity for response. These will include social service organizations focused on supporting hourly-wage earners, workers in the gig economy, immigrant/new American populations, older adults, people with disabilities, and other communities vulnerable to the physical health, mental health, and economic impacts of the pandemic.

I'm pleased to say that by the end of the event, the event raised just under $6,000!!

On behalf of our entire community, I wanted to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to this worthy cause and of course, to the entire panel for volunteering their time. In fact, a number of panelists donated significant professional development resources (video tutorials) that were raffled off to those who donated to the charity.

There's Still Time to Contribute

As we all know, the fight against COVID-19 will be with us for quite some time and as such, those brave folks on the front lines in those previously noted social service organizations will continue to need support. If you'd like to make a donation, you can do so by going to https://www.gofundme.com/rep-cares and click on the gold “DONATE” button at the bottom of the page.

Remember: 100% of the funds will be donated.

Below, you'll find a link to the Q&A Panel video. I hope you'll watch it as there are so many wonderful nuggets of wisdom and practical advice that I'm sure will benefit your photography and your business.

Thanks again!