things that cannot speak for themselves...

i recently traveled to brevard, nc to visit my grandparents and extended family. i always enjoy my trips into the mountains because 1. i miss my family and 2. i miss my mountains. pretty simple. asheville and brevard appreciate their surroundings and celebrate the earth. charlotte doesn't seem to do that...
my great aunt has a B-E-A-U-tiful backyard that sits right up next to the mountain. i spent a couple minutes walking around her yard finding the small beauties of the mountains. flowers from loved ones, moss growing on a shed, and vines overtaking a rock campfire.
i also was able to go see a 5 day old colt that lives across from my aunt. the mommy was very protective and though i stood there for about 15 minutes i barely saw the adorable baby's face. so i got a couple shots of the colt.
these are the things that need to be cared for and they cant care for themselves. these moments are what the 'lorax' protects.

A Swine/Fine Evening

every year A Child's Place hosts their 'Swine Evening'. throughout the course of the evening, attendees bid on piggy banks (hence the name of the event). the little piggies are signed by celebrities across the country and offer some fantastic packages. one was signed by Aaron Rodgers (one of my favorite Green Bay Packers football stars). another bank had the current American Idol contestants' signatures, yet another auctioned off some Nicholas Sparks items. there was a lot of silent auction piggy banks and about 6 piggy banks that were sold during a live auction. the live auction piggy banks went for the big bucks; a getaway/safari for 2 to south africa was one of the live auction piggy banks and i believe was the biggest selling bank. all the proceeds go towards A Child's Place and the guests were all eager to donate to such a great organization. it was a fun-filled evening and i look forward to possibly helping out again next year!

Furnishing Futures with Beds For Kids

Beds For Kids is a great organization which recently caught my attention when the youth group i volunteer for did a service project at their warehouse. we sanded, stained and had a lot of laughs. i immediately realized i wanted to work with them taking pictures of their organization. Daniel and Brandon, the staff members at the warehouse, were welcoming and enthusiastic for our help. and their mission is one that is probably overlooked or not recognized as a need in the community. they work directly with referring agencies to find families who need furniture for their homes. on their website they explain their mission: "You wouldn't own furniture without having a home; then how could you live in a house without furniture?" they receive furniture donations from all over the states, clean, prepare and repurpose the furniture, and then deliver the furniture to the awaiting families. currently they work with A Child's Place, Charlotte Family Housing, and the YWCA's Families Together program. Beds For Kids is also in partnership with Furnishing Futures whose goal is exactly what it sounds like, these programs work together to facilitate the futures of the children in these programs.
Beds For Kids recently delivered their 500th bed to a family and they are continuously growing their supply, and demand, of furniture. I spent a Saturday morning photographing the volunteers from a local church at the warehouse and learning more about the organization and their plans for the future. Not only does Beds For Kids provide families with furniture but they're doing their part to help out the environment as well - Daniel, the Executive Director, takes the palettes from furniture shipments and turns them into beautiful pieces of furniture to be sold; all proceeds going straight back to Beds For Kids.

Puptastic Pet Palooza

charlotte's Humane Society held their annual Pet Palooza a couple weeks ago in independence park. i have very rarely seen so many well-behaved dogs at once (besides when i worked at a doggy day care).  the dogs were adorable and all the vendors and booths had some amazing products and games to watch. the puppy kissing booth was one of my favorites!! the event started off with a 5k run (which inspired me to begin participating in my own 5k's) and immediately following the race was a 1k doggy walk which allowed dog owners to walk together with their adorable canine friends for 1k. the rest of the morning was filled with dogs playing in the pools and sniffing out all the booths and vendors. the Fido Fashion show was a great event to watch with all the fashionable fido's being adopted alumni from the Humane Society. there were some stylin' dogs walking around. it was a great way to spend a saturday morning!!

Building a Place to Play

 

the 2012 Playground Build was awesome! what started out as a rainy, dreary day turned into a bright, successful volunteer collaboration. this year, Paw Creek Elementary School received the playground and the students could not have been more excited. there were 2 construction sites with this build, one for the playground and another for an outside garden/classroom area. mascots, athletes and corporate offices all came out to support the build and got their hands a little dirty. no matter the weather, the volunteers were eager to get the playground set up and ready for the kids!

Aidan's Chariot Awaits

wednesday night i had the honor of working with Chariots of Freedom for the first time!  I always love when I find new connections with non-profits in the area and Chariots of Freedom is a worthy organization. "Chariots of Freedom seeks to enrich the lives of special needs children and their families". Mike explains on their facebook what Chariots of Freedom is all about:

Our mission is to provide special needs children with the opportunity to enjoy a greater degree of FREEDOM than they have likely ever before experienced. This is accomplished by enabling them to participate in competitive and social athletic events such as triathlons, and cycling and running events of all types. Each child is paired with an athlete who pushes and pulls them in a "CHARIOT".  

i had a fantastic time photographing a time trial that Mike participated in with Aidan in his chariot. Aidan has such a zest for life and speed. before the race, he was always shouting 'go' or 'move' and couldn't wait to be seated in his chariot and get out on the track. Aidan's brother and mom were there to cheer him on as well as some local volunteers as they biked around the Lowe's Motor Speedway.
this is truly a great organization and deserves all the attention!

view their facebook page here and consider volunteering: http://www.facebook.com/ChariotsOfFreedom

the next Broadway Star

my best friend growing up, Candice Dickinson is an up-and-coming broadway actress. her talents are better than anything i've ever heard (and i've seen multiple broadway plays). anyone who's met her loves her and her voice captivates any audience. she let me take her recent headshots so we spent about an hour in the frigid cold (this was back in december) walking around downtown asheville to find the perfect backdrops - we, of course, laughed the whole time and had an amazing time. and when you have fun on a photo shoot, the pictures will exude that joy and they turned out great!

Helping Neighbors find Homes

the Urban Ministry Center is one of my favorite non-profits in charlotte. they work with their neighbors to end homelessness. not only are they selflessly helping the community, they have multiple different avenues of work for neighbors. many of the neighbors participate in ArtWorks 945, GardenWorks 945, StreetSoccer 945, Voices of Love Choir or any of their other outlets. they provide alternative means to end homelessness. it's not just about putting someone in a home, its about helping them succeed and by participating in these 945 avenues, they can express themselves and show charlotte their talents. i recently visited UMC to take some pictures for them for an upcoming project and like my previous visits, i was heartily welcomed and had a great experience photographing the neighbors and volunteers.

Trips for Kids

Trips for Kids is a great non-profit in the charlotte area. they take recycled bikes and bike parts and turn them into something new for kids to enjoy. they mentor the kids participating and are associated with multiple other non-profits in the area. they focus on: 

1. respect

2. honesty

3. teamwork

4. overcoming challenges

5. healthy and safe lifestyles

6. service

Trips for Kids mentors these kids and becomes their lorax!

(photo from website)

Unique Summer Camps

this past weekend, Charlotte Parent magazine held their annual Camp Expo. this allows all different types of camps to set up booths  throughout the mall  and showcase what their camp has to offer to the throngs of people strolling the malls on a saturday. while some were 'typical' summer camps, others shed a whole new light on what summer camp can mean. the most popular tables were the science table and the marine camp table. both these tables involved interactive experiments and projects - who would have thought that science and marine biology could be so much fun? these tables proved that something can be more than meets the eye!

Premiering: THE LORAX

The Lorax movie was AWESOME! I was excited and nervous to see the movie because i didn't want them to take away from the message of the original story. however, while it added some stuff (obviously because they had to make a 15 page book into a full length movie) i think the extra stuff added to the overall message of the project. 

click here to view the official Lorax movie trailer

Finding Green in Charlotte

being from the mountains, and specifically from Asheville, i love the outdoors. when i first moved to charlotte i didn't think i could ever live here because there's no real greenery...however, i recently was told about Four Mile Creek Greenway. as it's name says, its 4 miles of boardwalk along the creek. the perfect getaway to get back in touch with nature while still remaining close to the city. its the best of both worlds.