The amount of donations we have been given is insane! Luckily we have four people leaving from LA so we will be able to take it all as our checked baggage, along with three others around the country. Besides all of the donations from friends and family, Denise was able to get a few companies to donate items as well! She has over 100 bottles of pre-natal vitamins! I received $710 in cash to buy supplies along with a ton of frames, medicine, vitamins and more! For the portrait project, we needed over 150 frames and we easily accomplished that goal! I am truly thankful for the caring people I have in my life (even if it’s only through Facebook). You guys are so generous and I don’t think I can say thank you enough!

Prayers, or good thoughts if you’re not the praying type, would be greatly appreciated! If you could pray for our safety, health and adaptability all will be needed. =)

These are just some of the supplies we will be taking! I just heard from Lindsey that she just received 44 lbs. of medical supplies! What an awesome group we have!

A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.

As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.

The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,”I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. “But”, said the man, “You can’t possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can’t possibly make a difference.” The boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied.

“I made a huge difference to that one!”

~Author Unknown~

So, with that, if you are looking to throw a starfish back in the ocean there are ways to help with the upcoming trip! First, there are still a few spots available if you would like to come! Please email me at richelle@richelledante.com for more info. Second, you can help us take supplies. We want to take as much as we possibly can!

Portrait Project

One of the big things we will be doing is a portrait project for both Heartline Ministries and Child Hope International. The women in Heartline’s program will have their portrait taken, we will print it on the spot and give it to them in a fun frame. At Child Hope we will be doing the same thing plus they get to decorate a frame also! It turns out, this adds up to ALOT of frames! We will need many supplies for this project including, 4×6 frames, specific foam frames (ask me for details, foam decorations for the frames, photo paper and ink.

Heartline Needs:
1/16 and 1/8 arc welding rods
9-vold batteries
CLR cleaner for coffee makers
Powdered formula
Iron Supplements (lots!)
Condoms
C5180 inkjet printer
#74 and #75 ink cartridges
Paperback NIV or NLT or CEV Bibles
Starbucks French Roast coffee
Snack food
Canned meat
Pampers/Cloth diapers
Travel size deodorant
Highlighters

Child Hope International Needs: (for a full list, go HERE)

These are all needs listed as Urgent…

Tylenol cold or dayquil and nyquil (liquid or tablets)
Children’s tylenol or Children’s Motrin
Kids Gummie Vitamins
Pedialyte (Flavored and No generic brands please, Gatorade brand ok)
Vitamin E
Zinc
Gatorade powder packs
Bathroom Hand towels
Large durable trash bags
Dustpans
school uniforms:
Black dress shoes: Male and Female, Kids and Teens
Dark Blue Jeans: Male and Female, Kids and Teens
Hand Sanitizer
Baby wipes
Acne Face Wash, and Face Lotion
Vaseline

If  you are interested in donating, please contact me at richelle@richelledante.com and we will figure out a way to collect them! Thank you for taking the time to read this and I am so amazed and humbled by the amount of interest and support there has been so far!

A few photos from my trip to the Domincan Republic and Haiti last March:

We were able to print out photos for kids in an orphanage in Santo Domingo, DR. We went back a few days later and this little boy was SO excited to show me his picture. It made it all worth it…

Haiti

Playing soccer with the rubble of a beautiful church behind them…

With two trips already scheduled for 2011 and some weddings I’m super excited to shoot, including my brother’s (YAY!), I’m thinking this coming year will go by just as fast. I’m hoping to take a few more moments to rest, stop and enjoy the time but to be honest, I work better when I’m busy. =)

Last year I didn’t do an end of the year blog post because I was still recovering from jet lag so this year I thought I would make up for it. If I did a shoot with you in 2010, you are in the slideshow. Every single shoot has at least one photo, including my travels and a few personal projects… all in a 5 minute slideshow! I couldn’t leave anyone out. I couldn’t pick favorites because I really love all the people I got to work with last year. Oh, and if you see wedding photos without the names and date, those are from weddings I second shot. I was lucky to get to work with some very talented photographers this year!

ENJOY! (Make sure HD is on otherwise it’s not very clear)

Richelle Dante Photography 2010 from Richelle Dante on Vimeo.

So, with all that said, I can’t do this on my own. I’m looking for help in a few different way…

Come to Haiti!

If you have had a desire to go to Haiti, I encourage you to consider coming. We will primarily be working with Heartline Ministries and staying at their guesthouse. There are a few photography projects in the works along with possibly doing some tear down and rebuilding. Basically, we will be available to help them any way we are needed. You do not need to be a photographer to go on this trip. It is open to all with a heart to help. I’m also looking into visiting an orphanage for one or two days but plans are not final for this yet. The cost will be minimal. You will have to pay for your flight and minimal costs in Haiti (no more than $150). If you would like more info, please email me at richelle@richelledante.com.

Donate Items!

One of the projects I’m looking forward to doing while in Haiti is taking family portraits of the women and their children in Heartline’s program. My goal is to be able to give each women a framed print of her family. I’m looking for 4×6, new frames to be donated. Also, if you have a portable printer you would like to donate or ink cartridges, that would be amazing!

Needed items listed on their website:
Medical Supplies:
IV tubing
latex gloves
alcohol wipes
adult diapers

Sewing Stuff:
Material
30 pairs of pinking scissors
Glitter glue
Embroidery thread
Several dozen feet of Velcro strips
Regular thread
Other:
10 inch dado blade for the table saw
1/16 and 1/8 arc welding rods
9-Volt batteries
CLR cleaner for coffee makers
Powdered formula
Iron supplements
Condoms
Staple gun (non electric) and staples
3 black ink cartridges for a HP photosmart C5180 inkjet printer
Paperback NIV or NLT or CEV Bibles
Starbuck’s French roast coffee
A good set of vice grips
Snack food
Canned meat
Pampers/cloth diapers
Travel size deodorant
Highlighters
Sand paper of various grit

If you are local in Orange County, we can set up a place to meet up and I will pick up the supplies. If you are outside of Orange County, please email me at richelle@richelledante.com and we will figure out how to get the supplies to Haiti!

Donate Funds!

If you would like to donate funds to Heartline Ministries, you can go HERE and directly donate to the organization (click on the donate button on the right side).

A few photos from my few hours in Haiti back in March…

What I saw is hard to describe. An orphanage in the D.R. with injured Haitian kids. One little boy hopping around on his one leg. Another little boy wanting to take pictures with my camera but needing help because he only has one arm. Kids with their legs in casts unable to move around because there are no crutches. The crazy thing is, they were happy. Smiling, having fun with us and their friends.

In Haiti we saw tents everywhere, people relieving themselves wherever they want, a mother collecting rain water from the top of her tent to give to her baby. Destruction everywhere with bodies still inside. The crazy thing, life is still moving forward. The people smiling at us as we drive by.

As you can tell, I’m really good at describing what I saw but I’m not very good at explaining how it made me feel. I wrote in my journal the night we got back and when I was flying home. I wouldn’t normally share from my private journal but I think knowing what I felt is an important part of understanding why I want to do what I want to do (details will be below the video). So here they are, my raw, uncensored feelings…

“What happens to these people when the aid slows down? They have nothing. They need help and will continue to need help for years to come. The help will not come from their governement so who’s job is it to help? Us. One person can’t save the world but they can make a difference. When I first saw everything I thought- there is way too much to do here, it is hopeless. But when I look into the eyes of the people and they smile at me, I realize, they still have hope and their hope comes from seeing people like me coming to their country to help. We are their hope and we cannot forget them. We can’t forget that their suffering has not stopped because there is less media coverage. It hasn’t. It won’t. I have so much. They have nothing but the hope that someone will help them. I don’t want to forget what I saw… the look in their eyes, the destruction, the hope. ”

When I was on the plane, what I saw really started to hit me. Here are some of my thoughts at that time…
“As I fly home emotions are filling me. Sadness, drive to help, overwhelmed, hopelessness. Anger that more people don’t want to help and just don’t care. I want to yell at them, I want them to have compassion for others- not just Haitians, but anyone, just compassion, a heart to help others. The people of Haiti are so lost, desperate and in need of experiencing love. God is love. They have faith, some do. I believe those who have faith know, trust and love God in a way I cannot comprehend and I’m almost jealous of it. If things don’t go my way I want to turn my back on God, blame Him for my minor inconveniences. How little my faith is. These people have lost everything and still worship God. That is a faith I can learn from.

For the rest of Haitians, they have nothing, no reason to live. They need to know God, for their salvation and their country. People don’t help their neighbors… why should they? Their hope is limited and dwindling. The chances of their government changing are slim. Their hope lies in God and His people. He is the only one that can save this country. We are the ones who can show his love. I don’t want to just show his love by sending money, I want them to physically see it. I don’t think this is the way for all people but they should at least be showing his love at home, right? We aren’t perfect and we may slip up but showing love and compassion should be our focus. Anywhere we are. A simple smile shows his love. In Haiti and D.R. their cold, distant faces would look at me. I would smile and instantly their entire body language would change, their faces soften. Most would smile back. Such a simple way to share Gods love. It’s not hard, it doesn’t take alot of time and energy. Why are we so cold? What happened? What can we do? Pray, smile and share his love… it is contagious.”

I know most people have given money and at this point don’t know what to do to help. I truly believe that prayer is powerful and God answers our prayers. One thing we can all do is pray. I want the people of Haiti to feel our prayers… to know we have not forgotten. I also want them to see our prayers… see how many people are praying for them. I want there to be a wall in Haiti filled with names of those praying for them so they can see that we have not forgotten them. I’m not sure how I can do this and if anybody is reading this that would know a way to help me, please email me! It may seem small and insignificant but I truly believe that if they have hope and know God is present, things can change. Of course they need food, water and shelter but they also need the power of God to help them get through this tragedy.

Wow, I wrote a lot and I hope you have taken a few minutes to read it. If you haven’t, that’s okay… you can just watch the video but I encourage you to read it when you have more time. =)

Pray for Haitians from Richelle Dante on Vimeo.

A few stills…

In Port Au Prince

Back in the Dominican Republic, we helped a Haitian church put down a tile floor.

I taught a few of the kids how to play Bejeweled on the iPhone. An important life skill. =)

This boy asked me to take his photo and was very excited to see it!

This boy asked for a photo in front of the motor scooter. After I took it, I had a line up of boys wanting the same shot. =)

If you are praying for Haiti, please leave a comment below. Even if I can’t have a wall of names in Haiti, I will find someway to let Haitians know they haven’t been forgotten!

Also, feel free to share my video on your Facebook pages. The direct link is http://www.vimeo.com/10712217.

Tent cities everywhere.

Needs everywhere.

Destruction everywhere.

Hope needed everywhere.

If you can take a minute and say a prayer for Haiti, please do. They need prayer for their government. They need prayer for hope. They need prayer for everything.

If you are praying for Haiti please leave a comment. I’m going to start a list of names of those praying. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet…this is still what I am processing. =)