Miss 604 is one smart cookie. So smart that she got me writing this post. The challenge? Write a post about the charity close to my heart, and link to her efforts towards CandaHelps. So, here goes.

There are several charities close to my heart and the hearts of my family including the BC Cancer Foundation as we have a family member who is a breast cancer survivor, the BC SPCA as there are two fur bearing members of my family and would have ten more if I had more time, but at this time of year the Food Bank tops my list.

Sitting down to Christmas dinner. photo: Simon Ogden

This year instead of buying Christmas gifts for the adult members of our family (we still bought for the little ones) my Grandpa wrote ‘Food Bank’ on a yellow stickie note and stuck it to an empty gift box; after we had finished eating the massive meal prepared by my mom, uncle & cousins the gift box was put on the table and people contributed whatever money they could to it.  For some it was $5 or $10, for others $20, but we all felt good making a group effort that would go towards others who aren’t as lucky as we are.

Being a food photographer and seeing the amount of food purchased for our shoots (and lots of it not used, go bad and/or thrown away) I must remind myself how lucky I am and that there are other less fortunate people living in my neighborhood, my city and in my country that need help not only during the holidays but all year round.

Happy Holidays to everyone,

~ j