A Plea for Help

Every summer, for the past 60 years, my family has gone to a church camp in the mountains of west Texas, near a tiny, picturesque town of Fort Davis. This spring, on April 9th a spark from an abandoned shed started a fire that burned over 300,000 acres and actively burned for almost 2 months. To put the acres into perspective, this is 641 square miles. I live in Dallas, which is 385 square miles, so almost twice the size of one of the largest metroplexes in the nation. This has been called the largest wildfire in the state of Texas. 23 homes were burned to the ground. The fire moved over 60,000 acres in less than 2 days, so many families did not have the luxury of getting their belongings. Thankfully, no lives were lost. We’ve all had the thought of what would we grab in case of a fire, and for most people it is pictures. These families were not able to do this. I wanted to help and had been unable to find a way. It’s a 10 hour drive and even if I could make it out there, I could not physically fight a fire. I could send money but I just wanted to do more. So, I decided what I could do is help with pictures. I can not replace precious memories that are now in ash. But I can help create new ones to represent a new beginning. So, the first week of August I am going to Fort Davis and have offered to take family portraits for the victims. I hope, if I can raise enough, to give each family a disk of all the pictures, some prints, and would love to be able to even frame some pictures. If you would like to help, it would be greatly appreciated. I have set up a pay pal account on my photography website, www.golightlyimages.com and would appreciate any donations. Thank you so much for your time and generosity.





~ Amber