The Oregon Humane Society recently hosted their annual telethon, broadcast live on KATU2.  In one afternoon, they exceeded their fundraising goal of $320,000 and successfully adopted out 70 of their furry faced charges.

And I was there to document all that fabulous generosity + cuteness.

For the record, the last time I photographed this event, I found myself walking out with my cat Sweetpea, who has served me well {as well as cats can serve their masters}.  It took nerves of steel not to walk away from this one without Mr. Wrinkles {as you might have guessed, a sharpei mix pup} + Jasmine {a sweet as can be rabbit…I know, who knew?} tucked under each arm.  Ala Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids.

And if you haven’t overloaded on all things OHS, this coming weekend I’ll be photographing for their annual Santa Paws event…please consider bringing your furry lover to a Fred Meyer store near you to get their picture taken with Santa.

Last weekend was upside down crazy busy.  And as much as I *loved each and every job, I’ve been upside down crazy busy with edits ever since.  The upside to edits, however, being that I get to share the results with all two of you…two being the optimists guess at the number of people reading this blog {every bloggers fear}.

My Saturday started with one of my favorite events of the year, the Oregon Humane Society Doggie Dash.  Last year they had over 4,000 participants of the two-legged kind…making it at least 8,000 total if I’m doing my dog-math correctly…and this year I believe they surpassed it, raising over $300,000 to benefit Oregon animals in need.

My next event of the day was a princess party, followed by an auction to benefit Ethiopian Orphan Relief.  The thread of course being that despite the insanity of the day and corresponding mountain of edits, I was surrounded by people making other people {and pets} very happy.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

this next guy reminded me of Sgt. Floyd Pepper from Electric Mayhem…and how can you NOT smile back….

But wait, there’s even more love for Loaves + Fishes.  And all the support for them that’s made possible through corporate sponsorship and volunteers  that our own home grown New Seasons Market provides.

Last week, after a stop at the SE Belmont Center where a competitive game of B-I-N-G-O was in full swing, deliveries were made and documented, thanks to  Brian Rohter, former New Seasons CEO + current board member + active Loaves + Fishes volunteer.  He was generous enough to share with us one of the sweethearts on his route.  At 80+ years young, she’s still paying it forward by sewing dresses that are delivered to orphanages in Eastern Europe.

I’ll be lucky if I can still velcro my shoes.

In doing what I love every day, I’ve been so fortunate to meet and work with some of the most amazing people + organizations of Portland who are truly changing lives.  {And I say that with zero concern for my hip factor when I consider how corny that may sound}.

As many of you know Loaves + Fishes is one of them.  I have photographed with them for four years now and could spend days happily going door to door with their volunteers, documenting deliveries + gratitude + stories.   In total, they provide more than 5,000 meals a day to local seniors through their 34 dining centers and home delivery.  And recently, Dave’s Killer Bread stepped up and made a commitment to donate over 800 loaves of bread a week to their centers.  If you haven’t had his bread, it is da bomb and so packed full of nutty goodness, eating a slice or two a day is probably the equivalent of running 3 miles a day.   And for some of these sweet folks pushing through their 90’s with humor and health intact, that’s saying something.

So a few weeks ago, we packed up the van with meals + Dave + his bread and made a few deliveries.

There was lots of love in the room last Thursday at the Oregon Humane Society celebration of pet and people heroes, hosted at the historic Governor Hotel.  With 350 attendees, they raised over $125,000 in less than an hour.  And amongst the five Diamond Collar honorees, all of whom make amazing contributions on behalf of fuzzy faced friends, was one who really touched me.  Maty, a three legged Australian shepherd, who once “worked” as a blood donor dog, but now [amongst other things] is a nanny dog to ferral kittens.

Hmm.  I wonder if she can come help nanny my 3 year old and 7 year old kittens of the two legged variety.

Check out this link to read more about the event and the pets + people who were honored.  And note that with the exception of Maty and Midnight, who were both recognized, all of the animals shown below are currently up for adoption at OHS!  Speaking from personal experience, pets can make life-changing companions…and occasionally, nannies.

And now for something completely different.

I never turn down an opportunity to work with the Oregon Humane Society.  It’s always guaranteed to be a blast, and given the stars of the show – completely unpredictable, and this weekend was no exception.  Santa got kissed a lot at their annual Santa Paws fundraiser, hosted by eight different Fred Meyer locations around the city.  50 fuzzy faced friends showed up Saturday at the Beaverton location for their debut with the big guy.  64 came through on Sunday at Raleigh Hills.  That’s …um….114 portraits in six hours.  And that was only two of the eight locations featuring Santa.  *Crazy, I know…I think the elves finally figured out that cloning thing.

Thank you so much for all the generous souls who shared their time and their friends with us!

Santa’s Apprentice“…and a partridge in a pear tree.”

When the Oregon Humane Society asked if I’d like to photograph their annual Doggie Dash, I didn’t hesitate for a second.  Yes, I photograph people.  And in my humble, non-scientific opinion, dogs don’t fall far from that tree.

With 4,000 “dashers”, they raised over $273,000.  That’s enough money “to vaccinate all 10,000 pets OHS adopted last year, to feed every animal in the shelter for a year, to buy medical supplies for 1,250 spay/neuter surgeries, AND to keep two OHS animal cruelty investigators in the field for a full year!”

And to celebrate their success, I cracked a few ribs that evening during a soccer game in a most fantastic run-in with my own goalie.  A fine day indeed.