I am proud to say that I am a volunteer as well as St. Louis Regional Coordinator for wonderful organization Operation Love: Reunited.
Operation: Love Reunited is a fully volunteer-based organization that offers fee-free professional photography sessions to military families and members who are getting ready to deploy, who are currently deployed, or those who are coming home. Clients are able to choose from two sessions (see below) within a year/deployment. To provide the support to the military personnel, photographers send a 4×6 album from the session overseas at no cost to the family*.
For military families you need to meet the following qualifications:
Clients are allowed 2 sessions per year/deployment. Here are the session options
a) Pre-deployment session with service person and family
b) Leaving session at the time of the actual departure
c) Mid-deployment session with the family while service person is deployed
d) R&R session done when service person is home for R&R
e) Homecoming session at the actual time of arrival
You must be an immediate family member of or a member of the military (dating counts!)
The military member must have orders to deploy or a letter of command and are REQUIRED
Warzone deployments only, see below. Unaccompanied tours are not qualified at this time, this includes Korea.
The orders shall be a departure period of 4 or more months overseas and at least 3 months (90 days) prior to returning to the United States
Combat zones are designated by an Executive Order from the President as areas in which the U.S. Armed Forces are engaging or have engaged in combat. There are currently three such combat zones (including the airspace above each):
- Arabian Peninsula Areas – the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, the part of the Arabian Sea north of 10° North latitude and west of 68° East longitude, the Gulf of Aden, and the countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- Kosovo area – Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Albania, the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea north of the 39th Parallel.
- Afghanistan
- In addition, we will also allow three parts of the former Yugoslavia to be treated as if it were a combat zone and therefore covered: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Macedonia.
To find a local photographer in our area go to:
http://www.oplove.org/oplovefinder/
To qualify as a volunteer photographer with OpLove, you need to meet the following qualifications:
- Been in business or have been an apprentice/worked under another photographer for a minimum of 3 years
- Have a website/blog (Facebook, MySpace, etc. are not considered professional websites and/or blogs)
- Are willing to waive multiple session fees over the course of time for deploying clients
- Print with a professional lab, and able to send a 4×6 album of images overseas to military personnel at no cost to them
- Use a SLR, DSLR or Medium Format camera body
To apply as a photographer go to:
http://www.oplove.org/admin/machform/view.php?id=1
*At no time is an album or disc of images sent directly to the family members as the purpose is to provide morale for the military member
