Thanks to an idea our eldest son when he was just four years old.  We have donated over 3,740 food items to our local food pantry over the past four years.  This is our fifth year doing our Jason Angelini Photography Annual Food Drive and we are excited to see the good we can all do together this year as well!  This year we have set things up a little differently…

As you can see, this year you do not have to have a winning bid for an auction in order to have a mini session!  Instead, anyone who donates a $30 Publix gift card or 60 food items will get a 15 minute mini session and 3 digital images will be emailed to you.  It is a great way to get a beautiful image to use for your Christmas cards or to make a large print to frame and use as a holiday gift!  You can donate a gift card to get a mini session for some one else as well!  Even if you don’t live here in Florida you can buy a Publix gift card online and have it sent to us.  The mini sessions can include up to 4 people.  For each additional person, it is an additional $20 donation on a Publix gift card (or 40 additional food items).  The sessions can be a couple, maternity, baby, kids, families, or whatever you’d like!  Send an email to jasonangelini@aol.com by midnight on November 6th to let us know that you would like to sign up for one of the mini sessions!

But don’t stop at a $30 donation!  Did you know that according to the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the average cost for a moderate meal plan for a child in the United States is about $250?!  In 2012 there were 49 million Americans, including almost 16 million children, who lived in food insecure households.  The more you give, the more you can help those who do not have enough food to feed their families here in our own community!  We will still be holding an auction for people to get more time and more digital images from their session, as well as the first pick of the time slots!  We will be accepting bids from now until midnight on November 6th.  The highest bidder will get a 30 minute mini session with a disc of 10-15 digital images and an 8x1o print mailed to them.  The second highest bidder will get a 20 minute mini session with 7 digital images emailed to them.  Finally, the third highest bidder will get a 20 minute with 5 digital images emailed to them.  Email jasonangelini@aol.com and put the subject line “Food Drive Bid” to place your bid.

Your bid can be a gift card to Publix or actual food items.  Every 2 food items equates to $1 on a gift card, so a bid of 100 food items would be the same as a bid of a $50 Publix gift card.  If you donate food items, they must be non-perishable goods in cans, boxes, or plastic jars.  Please do not count any packets, pouches, bags, or glass jars for your bid.  Canned foods, such as fruits and vegetables, plastic jars of peanut butter, cereal boxes, or boxes of rice or pasta are great ideas.

The mini sessions will take place on November 17th at a park in Hillsborough County (exact location will be announced soon!  We are finalizing details with the park ranger.)  There will be time slots throughout the day to choose from.  You can use the beautiful surroundings of the park as a backdrop, but we’ll also have a super cute holiday scene set up!  We will announce the 3 highest bidders here on the blog on November 7th and they will be given the first choice for the time slots.  They will have to choose their time that day if they want first pick.  On November 8th, the remaining times will then be open for everyone else to choose from.  Everyone must bring their Publix gift card donation or their food items on the day of the mini sessions.

After the session, you will be emailed 3 images (or more if you are one of the 3 highest bidders) that we choose from your session.  There may be additional images in a password protected online gallery as well, and these images will be available to purchase for $20 a digital file.  We will be donating any and all profits for these additional images or any other products ordered from the mini sessions to Feeding America, a hunger relief charity.

Feeding America has a network of food banks and food rescue organizations and serves 37 million people each year.  In 2012 they provided 3.39 billion pounds of food to people in need!  They received 4 out of 4 stars from Charity Navigator and are a Better Business Bureau accredited charity.  We are happy to donate to this charity.

We are asking all of our amazing couples and families to get involved and make this food drive a success!  Even without a mini session, we’d love to accept your donations as well.  Let’s fill the empty shelves at the food pantry!  PLEASE spread the word, get involved, be generous, and help to make a difference in our community!