For the past four years being involved with Help Portrait Vancouver have been some of the most rewarding moments I have ever had. This year was no exception but it did come with a few more responsibilities. Organizing and raising funds to support an event of this size was a learning experience for me and in the end I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and caring of our volunteers and supporters. This years event happened on December 1st in the Vancouver downtown east side and it was the second year in a row that our gracious hosts at the Union Gospel Mission made it possible. It was really great to see so many enthusiastic first time volunteers as well as the ones who have stayed committed to this event year after year returning.
By the end of the day we had welcomed over 600 guests and provided over 1000 portraits. This was no small feat but with the help of over 100 volunteers we made this one day a great success. Their smiles and stories that we heard from them will fuel our hearts for another year before we are back again.
Below is the morning crew that started this year event. Some of us had arrived at 6am to begin setting up and making sure that by 9am when the doors opened we'd be ready to greet the first guest and we made that happen.
Part of making sure the event runs smoothly and that our guests are treated to some entertainment are the general volunteers, musicians and artists.
Probably one of the hardest working group of the day are the hair and makeup team. They transform our guests and really make them feel special by getting them ready for their big moment in front of the camera.
By the end of the day we are all just one big crazy bunch to close out the afternoon. We also thought virtual tagging on FB was so over rated that instead we tagged ourselves "for real".
Can't wait for next year when I get to spend another awesome day with a great group of people and just do what can to give back.
