Something to think about in this giving season: your wedding means the world to you, but it could be very meaningful for others, too - even people you have never met... last year, the portion of our fees that we set aside for charity contributed $2800 to the Salvation Army; sponsored two African and two Asian children, dug two wells and bought two goats for third world villagers, and helped support victims of the New Zealand earthquake and the Queensland floods. For five of the last 6 years we were also able to sponsor a national photography competition in support of Mental Health Month.
All this is made possible by the fees you pay for your wedding photography; we are grateful for the opportunities you give us to help others, and today, just two days before Christmas, I want to acknowledge what you have made possible and thank all our brides, grooms, parents and friends. Your special day has made other lives better, safer and healthier.
In 2012 the major recipient of your support will be the GROW Residential Rehabilitation program. This is GROW Residential's 30th year of caring mutual live-in community support for people struggling to overcome both mental illness AND drug dependency. That is special: many psychiatric services refuse to accept mentally ill people if they have a drug problem, while drug rehabs turn away people who have a mental illness.. yet the majority of people have both! So great praise for GROW.
We are hoping to contribute $2500 to the community over the next 12 months while still meeting our commitments to Child Sponsorship and relief programmes and the Salvos; with most of the first half of 2012 booked already, and wedding bookings coming in steadily for the June-November period, we have high hopes of meeting that goal
