Volunteers 2012

Volunteers 2012
Some of our volunteers from 2012...missing a few!

Friday, December 7, 2012

A few more hours!

Just a quick message for our guests:


If you did not get a phone call or if you did not register, and would like to come out, we would be more than happy to accommodate you between noon and 3pm as a walk-in session. Basic hair and makeup services available. We will be at 2285 Clearbrook Rd. in Abbotsford, and we would love to have you! 


Thursday, December 6, 2012

2 More Days!!!

With only a couple days left, all the last minute details are coming together. It is great to see our guest list getting longer and our appointment calendar starting to fill up. Some of our volunteers have been spending hours on the phones calling guests to arrange appointments, so if you have registered and have not yet heard from us, don't worry! We will call you. At the moment, it looks as though the afternoon is more free than the morning.

I am looking forward to the smiles and the fun we will have, and hoping that we have worked out a few more kinks from last year. It is a great thing to be a part of for both guests and volunteers alike!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Last Meeting

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who was able to make it out to our last meeting! I hope everyone's questions were answered and you have a little better idea of what might be going on during the day. It was really great seeing a bunch of new faces, and I hope to get to know some of you more as we pull this all together. If there are any more questions or concerns, please email  - helpportraitabbotsford@gmail.com - and either Patti or I will get back to you.

For those who could not make it out - no worries! We will brief you the morning of. A few key notes to be aware of:
  •  The first guests should be appearing around 9am. 
  • I would really love to get a large group shot of all the volunteers who can make it, sometime between 8:30 and 9am outside the building, so please take a few minutes away from whatever you may be doing so that you can join us.
  • I expect us to have all of our guests through with photos in hand by roughly 5:30pm, so that we can hopefully be packed up and on our way out by 7pm.
  • Some people will be at Bakerview on Friday evening to set-up prior to the event, from about 5pm. If you plan on joining us, please let us know so that we can be sure to let you in, and to wait for you before we close up.
  • This should be fun for us too, so relax and smile :-)
  • Please take a minute to eat something. In the past, volunteers have been so busy that eating has been an afterthought. Since we cannot keep tabs on which volunteers have had a break and which have not, it will be up to you to take a rest and have a snack when needed.
  • Anyone with really long extension cords, please bring them. Same applies for power bars.
  • LABEL EVERYTHING
  • Along with my nice chic volunteer t-shirt, I will be wearing superhero RED stretch pants. So will a few others who are in the know. If you have a question that cannot be answered at the sign in table - find one of us.
  • Candid photographers, please remember that guests wearing black lanyards should not be photographed outside of their studio session. 
  • Hair and Make-up professionals, please ensure that any guest wearing a black lanyard keeps it visible when they are at your stations.
  • You are all amazing! This could not happen without you, and I am in awe, each time I do this, at how much everyone pulls together and gives such a meaningful and valuable gift of their time and talents to this cause.
See you on the 8th!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Getting Closer!

As our event is getting closer, we are madly contacting organizations to send us guests for our day. Next week, we will be calling guests to arrange appointment times and to answer any questions they may have. We are still looking for individuals or businesses who would be willing to provide food for both guests and volunteers. We are still looking for more general volunteers to do a variety of tasks.

We have had some great success already! A few things we are grateful for include:
  •  the donation of baked goods from Thrifty Foods in Abbotsford
  • roughly 20 loaves of bread from someone connected with Cobbs bread (proper donor  info yet to be confirmed)
  • someone to do video for us
  • a $500 donation from the TWU to help cover the cost of printing and other operating needs.
  • another $ donation of around $200 from an individual, to help cover the cost of shirts for the volunteers as well as food or other needs that we have.
  • a GREAT deal on our shirts thanks to Bob Johnson at Unitex in Abbotsford.
  • an excellent response from photographers, make-up and hair professionals, as well as others who are willing to help make our event a success.
  • make-up supplies from Brianne Marble-Arbonne Independent Consultant and some hair and make-up supplies from Avon and the Beauty Shop as well.
  • a couple other promised donations to be confirmed...
We are confident that things will continue to come together as we take care of all the loose ends and small details which remain. Thanks to all of you who have contributed your time, money, and resources so far. We are SO VERY GRATEFUL!!!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Planning, Planning, Planning

So we are in the midst of planning our event again this year. It seems like it's coming up too soon! Only a month away. Currently we need some more food for the day - things like sandwiches, cheese, meat, veggies, and fruit. We also would love if there was a business willing to cover the cost of our volunteer t-shirts and the screening costs.

Otherwise, things are well under way. We have been in contact with several organizations which we have worked with in the past, as well as some new ones which will be sending us some guests. We have the cost of printing 5x7's covered for the guests, as well as some baked goods, and make-up. Looking forward to an even better event than the last two years!!!

Friday, September 7, 2012

2012 is here!

2012 is upon us and nearly done! Planning has started for our December event, and there is a lot yet to be done. For those who can join us, please come out for our first planning meeting of the year at the Wired Monk in Abbotsford. Looking forward  to getting things moving again!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

SUCCESS

Finally, I can breath again! After a few months of furious planning, hundreds of texts and emails, and several phone calls…Help-Portrait day arrived with a bang. Thanks does not even begin to cover my gratefulness for the roughly 100 volunteers who sacrificed their time, sleep, equipment, and probably a little sanity to help make this day successful. We managed to photograph about 350 people from all walks of life. Though our day did not go off without a hitch (we had major problems with our printers) I am still very happy with the experience that we were able to give to our guests, as well as with the experiences that we all walked away with. It was a great day of networking, joking, and connecting with others as we worked together to serve our community. I am already making plans in my head for things that I want to change or incorporate again for this year! There were several little loose ends to tie up, which I have been doing until now, but finally everything is finished. I am so proud to see how much regular people can impact a community! If you would like to be involved in the coming year, please fire me off an email and I will let you know as soon as things get rolling!

Tamara