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Help-Portrait Macomb Needs a Little Help

Help-Portrait is an international project that provides family photos during the holiday season for those who otherwise could not afford them.  Its motto is: "We don’t want to take your photo. We want to give it to you."

The Help-Portrait Macomb group, which is in its fourth year, is seeking a little help to ensure it can get the job done.

“We have all the photographers we need. But we are still looking for other volunteers to help us make things work and make the day go easily,” said Crystal Kepple, Director of Help-Portrait Macomb.

She said the group is also in need of financial donations and has a savings account at the Western Illinois credit union.

More information can be found on the group’s Facebook page and/or by emailing helpportraitmacomb@gmail.com or crystal_kepple@yahoo.com

Kepple said each family receives an 8 x 10 printed photo plus a disc of the images. The financial donations pay for the printing, the discs, supplies, and snacks for the families to enjoy while waiting to have their photos taken.

Credit Help-Portrait Macomb
Last year's volunteers

The event will be held on Saturday, December 9, at The Crossing, 1600 West Jackson Street in Macomb, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.   Families can simply show up or they can contact the group ahead of time, which will help with the planning.

“When I was young we didn’t have a lot of opportunities to get family portraits. We only have two with our entire family from my childhood,” said Kepple.

“There are a lot of families in the world right now who have even less than we had and have no family portraits.  So I like the idea of being able to give this to other people as a gift.”

Kepple said the project is funded entirely through donations. She said money left over after December 9 will be given to charitable groups in town to help families in need.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.