Last October, nearly 350 members of Professional Photographers of America (PPA) in 41 states and the District of Columbia participated in PPA Charities’ Family Portrait Month, a, national fundraising effort to benefit Operation Smile, making possible a donation of $50,635 to the charitable partner of PPA Charities. This donation raises the amount that PPA Charities has contributed to children’s charities to more than $150,000.

On January 10, during PPA’s Imaging USA convention in Phoenix, Arizona, PPA Charities presented the 2008 donation to Operation Smile at Alice Cooperstown. The check was received by Beth Marshall, Operation Smile Senior Executive Advisor for Latin America and Caribbean, and Carmit Bachar, Operation Smile Celebrity Smile Ambassador. Bachar, an American singer and dancer, is best known as a member of the pop group, The Pussycat Dolls. Ms. Bachar, who was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, participated on an Operation Smile medical mission to Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

PPA Charities’ over $50,000 donation occurred during a time when many were toning down their charitable donations. In fact, during a four-year partnership, PPA Charities has raised more than $150,000 for Operation Smile…translating into helping hundreds of children and young adults.

PPA photographer Graham Wilson of Colorado was the largest donor to Operation Smile through the 2008 Family Portrait Month campaign, raising $10,000. By generating the largest donation during Family Portrait Month, Wilson won the chance to photograph an upcoming Operation Smile international medical mission.

Operation Smile has posted an item about PPA Charities’ efforts on their website; you can read it by clicking here.