Giving is Awesome {The Winner}
Choosing the Giving is Awesome winner was a tough task this year. With unemployment at 10%, and a terrible economy, there were so many people who deserved custom photography & I would truly give anything to award the prize to everyone who was nominated.
Thank you so much to everyone who participated! I just looked at the Giving is Awesome website & am happy to report that 356 photographers signed up this year & donated $384,218.00 worth of custom photography to qualifying families! Now I don't know about you, but I think that is AWESOME!
And now....For the winner...:o)
I chose Greg and Kathy Sharp!!!
The Sharp family was nominated by Ben & Julie Wallis and will receive a portrait session & package valued at $1000.00!
Here is the story that was submitted:
When Julie told me about your giveaway, both of us immediately thought of a family in our church. Greg and Kathy Sharp are a couple in our church that have been through so much in the past few years. They have two young girls: Breanna (8) and Raigan (6). Over the past months, Breanna has gone through a gauntlet of testing concerning problems with her hearing and vision. Raigan is severely autistic. Raigan has (and continues to undergo) undergone more different types of therapies than I can count. She is currently enrolled in a special program (INCREDIBLY expensive) that is aimed at teaching her basic cognitive skills...as of yet, she has never said a word. Greg owns a lighting landscaping company called Sharper Lighting. Due to the downturn in the economy, his business has taken a serious hit. He has expanded his company to include more "green" resources and technologies, however, business continues to be slow.
With all of this context, Greg and Kathy are still giving to others in so many different ways. They both are very active in autistic awareness...both were participants in the recent Autism Walk in Jacksonville about 2-3 weeks ago and Greg was in Miami this past week speaking at an autism conference. With everything else going on, Kathy heads up our children's choir at First Baptist Church Jacksonville Beach...even going to the extent of actually writing the script of the upcoming children's choir Christmas musical. She is also active in teaching our KidZone Children's Church which is designed to teach children K-3rd grade about how God loves them, and also allows their parents to attend our Worship Service on Sunday mornings without having to worry about their kids.
I have no doubt that Greg and Kathy could never afford professional, custom photography. Due to "life" issues and finances, I believe that the last family portrait that they had done was when Raigan was a baby. I think that, not only do the Sharps qualify to be nominated, but that professional, custom photography would be so immensely appreciated and be such a blessing to them.
I will be sure to post the images from the Sharps' session! I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!
Take care!
