Giving is Awesome

If you haven’t yet heard about Giving is Awesome, it’s this amazing idea that was started by Philadelphia photographer Kristen Kalp. She posted on her blog about giving away a few thousand dollars worth of photography to a worthy family, and within a week, over 100 photographers had signed on to do the same. Last year Giving is Awesome gave away over half a million dollars in custom photography to deserving families. Pretty amazing, right?

This year’s goal is 1 million dollars, and right now the tally is at just over $300 000. I encourage all of you to take a moment to visit www.givingisawesome.com and sign up to be a part of this incredible movement. I can tell you from personal experience how truly wonderful it feels to give back to your community in this way. You can see my 2008 Giving is Awesome session here: Fresh Sugar’s Giving is Awesome. The recipient of last year’s giveaway was so thankful for this gift that she emailed everyone in her address book and told them to think of me if they are ever looking for a photographer. While the purpose of this was NOT to get anything in return, it’s pretty darn nice to be appreciated in such a way.

If you are worried that you might not get many entries, let me just say that even 2 entries can feel like too many – because it makes it so hard to choose. I know that last year our friend and amazing Red Deer photographer Deanna Hall chose more than one winner because it was just too hard to decide who was the most deserving.

This year, both Danna and I are giving away over $5000 in custom photography to some soon-to-be-excited Calgary families, I’ve already got my work cut out for me deciding on the entries I have received so far. It’s so humbling to read the emails from the loved ones who are doing the nominating.

You can take a look at our blog posts to get an idea of what to write for yours, or you can visit the Giving is Awesome site for more ideas.
Bowes Photography – Giving is Awesome 2009
Fresh Sugar Photography – Giving is Awesome 2009

PS – Our own little giveaway here at Two Photogs ends tonight at midnight, so there’s still time to win a spot in our January mentoring! There have been some AWESOME entries so far, check out the comments section in the post below to take a peek!