Between the holiday season chaos and the endless celebrations, it can be challenging to remeber the true giving spirit of the holidays. November and December are two of the busiest months here at CG Pro Prints, so even we admit to letting the essence of the holidays slip our busy minds. Luckily, others did not fall prey to the chaos, and there was no shortage of Canvas for a Cause opportunities throughout the end of the year. These opportunities enabled us to end the 2015 Canvas for a Cause program strong with donations to three great organizations and causes. Now that we are slowly getting back to business as usual here, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to share these important causes with you. Hopefully they help keep the giving spirit of the holidays alive throughout the year. 

WearWoof

You may remember our donation to photographer David Holzemier, with Paws of Hope Photo. David volunteers his time and photography services to local Pittsburgh animal shelters. Through Canvas for a Cause, we were able to support his efforts with (adorable!) canvas prints for the shelters with which he works. You can read more about the Paws of Hope Photo partnership here. Recently, David put us in touch with photographer Kim Lenz, of Kim Lenz Photography, who also volunteers her time and services to an animal welfare cause. 

Kim introduced us to a consignment boutique in Pittsburgh called WearWoof. WearWoof's mission is "to save pets with style" by donating their profits to over 30 local shelters and animal rescues in the Pittsburgh area. Kim recently completed a photo shoot for WearWoof featuring animals from local shelters with models sporting the boutique's latest fashions. After experiencing success in the local community, WearWoof purchased a larger storefront last summer. Kim, along with the team at WearWoof, decided to decorate the new space using images from the fashion shoot, and our partnership officially kicked off.  Through this donation, Kim was able to outfit WearWoof's new shop with four 24"x36" Canvas Prints. 

WearWoof's mission has led to tremendous success within the local community and they have raised over $50,000 for shelters and rescues thanks to purchases made in their boutique. Although their donations help the efforts of shelter and rescue leagues of all sizes, WearWoof aims to "support the needs of smaller rescues and shelters who are big on heart, but low on resources." You can learn more about WearWoof here. If you're local to Pittsburgh, stop by the shop and help donate to a good cause!

Union County Emergency Shelter

As with most Canvas for a Cause partnerships, this particular donation was a long time in the making. Cassie, of Cassie Leigh Photography, reached out to us in August of last year with the opportunity to support a local organzation called the Union County Community Shelter of North Carolina. The mission of the Union County Community Shelter is to offer resources and reliable housing to homeless men, women, families in their local area. The ultimate goal of their efforts is to provide programs that help others achieve self-sufficieny. Cassie partnered with the founder of the organization to create a program that would offer family portraits to those in need. These portraits would then be printed on canvas for display in the new homes each family had successfully found with help from the Union County Community Shelter. 

After initial outreach, Cassie decided to schedule the portrait shoot in early November so she could gift the portrait prints to each family for the holidays. Although attendance was not as high as Cassie had hoped, two families arrived for their session and recieved stunning portraits that they would have never had access to without her help. We were able to donate 11"x14" Canvas Prints to the families in attendance, which were then gifted to each family for the holidays. Cassie plans to use the remaining donation we pledged to offer another portrait session to families next spring. 

"Thank you again so much! I know the two families who attended the session are grateful, they were so excited to recieve their prints!"
- Cassie Leigh

Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA)

Last holiday season, we worked with the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA), an organization in our home state of Colorado that offers emergency assistance to homeless families in need. Will Kaufman, a local student and aspiring photographer, offered his portrait photography services to families supported by EFAA throughout the 2014 holiday season. His idea was one of the first supported projects through our Canvas for a Cause program. You can read about it here. 

Fortunately, Will decided to continue this project in 2015 and kept us in mind for another round of donations toward his cause. Again, Will volnteered his time over Thanksgiving break and took portraits for over 15 families in need. After enlisting some help from friends and family, Will picked up his stack 11"x14" prints and gifted them to each of the families just in time for Christmas. 

Will Kaufamn poses with his portraits on canvas alongside EFAA's Executive Director Julie Van Domelen (left) and Director of Programs, Elizabeth Freedman (middle)

Have you offered your photography services to local non-profits or causes in your area? Let us know in the comments! You could be a great fit for our 2016 Canvas for a Cause program.