Last month I spent an afternoon volunteering at Brides Against Breast Cancer event. They had some amazing deals – $3,000 couture gowns for only $500! Now that’s a steal if ever I saw one. I saw a Reem Acra dress and I just about died.

Brides Against Breast Cancer organizes gown sales and gives brides the opportunity of finding their dream gown at an incredible price. These gowns are something that you wouldn’t normally be able to afford – and so I admire the support of designers, bridal shops, manufacturers and individuals who have donated the dresses, especially something as important as a bridal gown. The sales will benefit all men and women who are losing their fight against breast cancer.

Thank you to the brides who donated their dresses and the group of amazing women who were at the event! I encourage everyone who has the time (or the dress!) to help out and show your support to this wonderful organization.

At my last day of WPPI Vegas Convention last March, I met Jarett Kulm, a volunteer photographer for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation

He quit the wedding industry and dedicated himself to volunteering work. He has such a big, amazing heart, and what the foundation he’s part of does just moves me to tears. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is a network of volunteer photographers who offer their time and services to parents whose children were stillborn or died shortly after birth.

Pregnancy and birth is a beautiful thing, a blessing and a gift. But there are times when the unexpected happens – complications, sickness, or time moving too fast – and suddenly, our little angels are gone too soon. Losing a child is one of the most painful things a mother or a father can experience in their lifetime, and I couldn’t imagine how to deal with the grief afterwards, that sorrow. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation helps with that healing process by providing remembrance photography of the children after they have passed on, or during their final moments on our world. Parents can request for a photographer to come to the hospital and conduct a gentle, private portrait session for free. Afterwards they will be presented with the images for them to keep, to remind them of their time with their child, no matter how brief.

This project has touched me a lot, and I believe and admire the vision of the people who started it – Cheryl Haggard and Sandy Puc’. The photographs are powerful and touching as are the stories behind it, and looking through all of them makes my heart ache. There is no doubt that Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep has affected a lot of lives, and has profoundly changed everyone – not only the parents and families, but the photographers as well.

I invite you all to support the mission of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep today. Thank you, Jarett, for doing what you do and for introducing this project to me. I feel very lucky to have met you. You are inspiring a lot of us photographers in joining your cause.

“What we have once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” — Helen Keller