With less than three months left in its 2010 fund-raising campaign, PPA members need to contribute approximately $78,311 if PPA Charities is to reach its $120,000 goal in support of its charitable partner Operation Smile. During 2009, PPA members contributed a record $100,000 to Operation Smile, and if this year’s goal is met, then PPA members will have made it possible for as many as 500 children to receive the gift of life-changing surgery provided by the volunteer medical staff of Operation Smile.

Fortunately, PPA members will have plenty of opportunities to help: Funds can be raised through Family Portrait Month activities during October and November, and on November 1, the 2011 PPA Charities Operation Smile Studio campaign will begin; 7 studios have already registered to be PPACH Operation Smile Studios for 2011, so we hope you will be among the first to join them by donating at least $240 to PPA Charities!

Several individuals and companies have just announced plans to support Operation Smile through their special fund raising activities. For example, well-known Orlando, Florida, portrait photographer and teacher Tim Kelly is preparing to launch a Facebook event that will allow donors to encourage Tim to cut his currently long “artistic” hair to more of a “corporate” look. Tim hopes to raise $10,000 through this good-grooming effort.

Springfield, Illinois, photographer and marketing guru Sarah Petty is “cooking up” some fund-raising recipes that she will announce soon through her Joy of Marketing organization. Last year, Sarah raised a remarkable $24,000 for Operation Smile through her Joy to the World websummit.

So please join with us in showing the world what committed professional photographers can achieve when they stand together to make a difference in the lives of precious children whose lives can be changed forever through the gift of surgery.