Fall Portraits with a Purpose, Sweet Cases! This fall help me build sweet cases for foster children. Did you know that foster children are given a trash bag when leaving their home and entering foster care, and every time they move from home to home, they do it with a trash bag…neither did I. Did you also know that every day 1,200 kids enter foster care in the United States?

This year I had the privilege of photographing an event that sponsored the company Together We Rise. I immediately fell in love with their cause. It broke my heart to learn that children are given trash bags when being placed into foster care! My reaction: WHAT?! TRASH BAGS – because…why??? My heart sank, isn’t it enough that these children have to be moved out of their home, even as dysfunctional as some might be, it is still home. I can’t imagine how a little one could put their important belongings into a trash bag and how that must make them feel. It’s a very disheartening thought for me especially as a mom. Together We Rise is a non-profit that changes the way children experience the system. One of those ways is with sweet cases.

After photographing the event where hundreds of corporate individuals decorated sweet cases and built bikes for foster kids, I knew I wanted to participate in some way. My girls and I have talked about getting the sweet cases (duffel bags) that Together We Rise has and decorate them ourselves, we thought about having a community event where many could participate and put their own personal touches on the sweet cases (and we still might), but for now this Fall, I have decided to participate with a fundraiser page. It is a great way for you and I to reach as many people as we can. To help build sweet cases for these sweet children who desperately need to know that people – even ones they’ve never met, care. They are loved, they matter and the things that they have, their belongings matter, and don’t deserve to be placed in a trash bag. Sweet Cases include a duffel bag, hygiene kit, blanket, coloring book, crayons, stuffed animal/pillow pet.

How you can help:

Schedule your Fall Family Portrait Session. I will be donating 20% – which is equal to two sweet cases! of every family photo session that is scheduled during the month of September and October. We all have family portraits in the back of our minds, holiday greeting cards on the to-do list, and why not choose to bring joy to others with something you are already planning on doing.

You can also donate directly on the page link below. The goal is $500 by the end of October. I’m sure that together we will surpass this goal! Sweet Cases are $25 each, that’s 20 sweet cases! Please consider becoming a part of my Portraits with a Purpose. Share this blog post on your social media, email the link to your friends and family. Share the fundraiser page – it only takes a click on an icon anymore and instantly more people can be aware of such a great cause. Together We Rise is amazing! They do so much here in California and throughout the U.S. Lets join them and be a blessing this year. No more trash bags, just sweet cases for sweet little faces.

http://www.togetherwerise.org/fundraise/EricaMendenhall

Blessings,

Erica