Background...
This venture began to develop when Maggie and I were planning our visit to Australia to visit with our daughter, Cathryn, and to tour New Zealand while we were in that part of the world. We were going to visit and stay with some of Cathryn’s friends and wanted to bring a special “hostess” gift from America. We searched around for a while to try to find something appropriate which was from and made in America. To our surprise, the suitable things we found were not manufactured in America, but in other countries.
Being an amateur birder and photographer, we decided to make our own gifts from my pictures taken in Florida and other states. I made “photo” cards and matted pictures from my photo collection of birds and flowers to present our hosts as gifts. Needless to say, our hosts were extremely happy to receive them and appreciated the fact that we took the effort to make them.
When we returned to the States, one of our neighbors admired some of the extra cards we made for ourselves and asked if I would take a particular photo and frame it for her. I did so. Another neighbor saw that framed photo and requested one. However, she wanted to use it to give as a gift instead of keeping it for herself. That’s when I decided to charge prospective sales to neighbors, friends and acquaintances.
Not needing the money for myself or to support my hobby, I decided to donate all proceeds to a particular charity of ours, The Children’s Inn at the National Institute of Health (NIH) located in Bethesda, Maryland. This donation is made in memory of Paula Santoro, a special person we knew who had attended the Inn for treatments. Her premature death has touched our lives and, therefore, we wanted to help other children receive the needed medical care when all conventional treatments have not been successful.
Information about the Inn can be found at: http://www.childrensinn.org
The photographer may be reached at the following address for comments, pricing schedule, etc.:
