“Do for ONE what you wish you could do for EVERYONE.” Andy Stanley
Earlier this week, many of our fellow small business owners were impacted by the tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma. I watched in horror as stories of children, helpless and trapped in an elementary school were reported on the news. Like any of you would, I reached out to friends in Oklahoma making sure they were ok. Thankfully they all were safe, but as the night wore on I wondered what more I could do to help when I live hundreds of miles away? Then I got a text message from my friend Casey Graham of The Rocket Company.
Casey said, “Oklahoma needs our help. You live in the South and so do I. It could have been us, our employees and our businesses impacted. Let’s raise $15,000 in 7 days together with Hope Mob and Convoy of Hope. Go activate your community.”
Hmm…that’s a pretty big charge….$15,000! But Casey challenged me. So Sarah and I along with our team sprung into action. Knowing we were putting on a free photography event the next day with whcc where we would be teaching thousands of photographers how to price photography, we thought this was the perfect way we could help. For every donation of $25 or more, we’ll send you a copy of Sarah Petty Photography’s senior pricing. This isn’t something we share or give out ever. But because we’re teaching pricing this week, we feel like the time is right.
I feel strongly that as small business owners who rely on our communities to support our livelihood, there’s never a more important time to help than when you see another community that has been crippled the way Moore, Oklahoma was. It’s our responsibility to do the right thing, provide charitable giving and help lift up those who need help the most. We never know when it could be our community devastated or when we’ll need a hand up.
I’ve never been more proud of the photography community as I was this week when together, we raised $1,000 in just 30 minutes to help those impacted. In just three days, over $43,000 has been raised by Hope Mob and Convoy of Hope. And the best part, 100% of donations go straight to victims – not just a percentage.
But we’re not finished. The owner of Abie Straps, Ellen LeRoy, reached out to help, too. Now through the end of May 2013, Abie Straps will donate $25 from every camera strap purchase to Convoy of Hope and give you a $10 discount when you use the code HELPOK10. That is 100% of her proceeds – she’s giving it all to Oklahoma victims. So let’s keep paying it forward and along the way you can pick up a new camera strap. Let’s keep showing the world how awesome the photography industry is at charitable giving and helping those in need.