Shelter-At-Home Photo Fundraising Project for COVID-19 Healthcare

Dear Friends & Clients,

April 18th project update: I’m happy to announce that this project exceeded my expectations in every way and has been immensely gratifying. More than 40 families participated, raising over $4000 for MarinHealth. I have decided to pause this project for the time being, but hope to connect with more families in the very near future. 

Here’s my original letter:

We are all doing something big right now. We’ve all committed to keeping our community healthy & safe, which may mean you’re at home with family members spending time together in unexpected ways.

As a photographer, I feel compelled to document this time in some way and, in the meantime, do something useful to support our community. My goal is to bring our community together and support local healthcare needs during this unprecedented time by photographing local families at home together in exchange for your donation to the MarinHealth Foundation, which will benefit Marin General Hospital and help fill critical needs during the COVID-19 crisis & beyond.

Many of us have family members back home together for a very rare moment in time, and I would like to help you capture this togetherness! I will be doing neighborhood walks over the next 2 weeks, and will photograph your family posed on your front porch or front yard (while adhering to strict social distancing).

I would like for our photos to tell a story. You can wear whatever you like, and I encourage you to consider including items that might express how you’ve been spending your time sheltering in place (e.g. baking/playing guitar/painting/building things/a new hobby?) If you have college students at home, perhaps they would like to wear a shirt displaying their college. Include your pets too if you’d like.

My goal is to raise $1500 by April 20^th. If you choose to participate, your suggested donation of $50 (or any amount) includes:

• A 10-minute photo session with Jennifer
• Jennifer will select the 3 best images for you and email your digital files to you within 48 hours of your session

I will be visiting neighborhoods in Ross, Kentfield, Larkspur, Greenbrae, San Anselmo and San Rafael the first 2 weeks of April.

This project was originally inspired by The Front Steps Project in Needham, MA, which has been featured in USA Today, the NBC Nightly News, and People Magazine for its community front porch photos during the Covid-19 crisis.