Timothy J. Photography Blog

This year I would like to challenge you to give. Give your time, your money, your advice, and your love to others.
Why would you want to do something like this? Well, we live on way too much money and own too much. I personally have so many clothes that much of them collect dust. I want to personally start giving myself in my time, and my finances to people who are in need.
Please reach out and love someone in a unique way in 2010. Don’t do it for me, don’t do it for yourself. Do it for someone else, even if you have not or will not ever meet them.

“I don’t have much money”, you might say. Yes you do! Most people around the world live on $1.25 a day (USD). Could you offer something as simple as that to someone next year? You can easily find $1.25 in change on the ground everyday here in the states. I normally have around that much change in my pocket from going out to eat or buying things.
I would like to challenge you in 2010 to help someone out. Help anyone out. Here are some websites that I think are way cool, and are different approaches on helping people out:

One Day Wages: http://www.onedayswages.org/about/what-odw and http://twitter.com/OneDayswages
Here’s what they do, found on their site, “Our vision is to inspire people around the world to simply donate one day’s wages and to renew that pledge monthly, quarterly or yearly on their birthdays to the cause of ending extreme global poverty.”

Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/about and http://twitter.com/KIVA
Kiva is a way to lend money to people across the world who are in need. Usually small business in foreign countries. A very unique way to help someone else out.

Help Portrait: http://www.help-portrait.com/ and http://twitter.com/help_portrait
This is for the photographers out there. Even though the offical date was 12/12/09, there will be more to come. You can always go out shooting and do it now.

Project 7: http://www.project7.com/mission/ and http://twitter.com/Project7
From their site, “Project 7 is a company that is passionate about social change. For every purchase of a Project 7 product, the company donates 50 percent of its profits to seven areas of critical need in the world”.

Thirst Relief: http://thirstrelief.org/ and http://twitter.com/thirstrelief
Help change a life by clean drinking water.

You might ask, “ok Tim, what will you be doing this year?” I’ve decided for 2010 to donate a percentage of each wedding that I book next year towards helping World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org and http://twitter.com/WorldVisionUSA) . I’ve patterned up with them, so that children and families might be able to be blessed by the work that I do, by people simply getting married and letting me take their photographs.

So please decide that in 2010, you will want to make a difference in someone’s life. Help by giving something, anything, even just your own time. Please make a change in someone else’s life!