101 in 1001: #11 Shoot a Charity Event for Free.

Does anyone shoot charity events for money? I'm now realizing how ridiculous that title sounds, but I take all my 101 in 1001 goals verbatim from my list sooooo ... Anyways, the important thing is that I got to photograph TWO charity events this year! I think it's really important to give back, and while I'm still searching for an organization (besides my church) to volunteer with on a regular basis (suggestions??), I'm thankful to be able to use my photography here and there when it's needed.

This first event was really, super cool. The Silver Spoon Awards Party is a food and wine-tasting event that benefits the Arthritis Foundation of Northeastern Ohio. There were SO many Cleveland-based restaurants and businesses in attendance, including my personal fav, Hodges. (I even got to take a picture of Chris Hodgson ... come ON!) Even though I don't profess to be a foodie, I love the creativity that goes into cooking. Everything at the Silver Spoon Awards was so photogenic ... AND so delicious!

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Then I got to photograph an event that really spoke to me: Literary Lots. I LOVE to read, and Literary Lots is all about bringing the magic of reading to vacant, urban spaces. What an amazing, creative and inspiring project! It was reading meets art. During the summer, this empty space in Ohio City was completely transformed into a literary playground. There were sandwich boats a la Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a space for tea parties, and a jungle gym of "pasta tubes." Talk about letting your imagination run wild!

Check out this video to get a better feel for the project:

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