26 years ago a 16 year old Jennifer perused the local library shelves for some light summer reading…she landed on Christy Brinkley’s book below and read through it attempting to follow Christy’s (or whoever actually penned the books) advice to healthy living. I mean who didn’t want to look like Christy Brinkly in 1988 and surely the book must contain all the secrets that would turn the average girl into a supermodel, right!?
I remember one of her tips, which was new advice to me, “drink 8 glasses of water a day.” At the time, I was mostly subsisting on Coke, so this was a novel idea. Even still today I remember the grimace and mild gag as I tried to choke down a glass of room temperature water straight from the tap. Water straight from the tap tasted far more unpalatable than my Coke craving taste buds could have ever predicted. I kept trying though it wasn’t getting any better. I was stubborn and in pursuit of super model healthy glow, so I was willing to make the sacrifice!
Then a lightbulb went off—what if I drank water with ice like I did Coke. The rest is history…thus began my love affair with ice water that goes on still to this day. I’m rarely anywhere without my refillable water bottle and might be seen twitching when I leave it at home as it’s my constant sidekick. This was long before water was sold in single size bottles. The last soda I had to drink was in 1988. I even got permission from my teachers in high school to carry a water bottle and permission from the lunch ladies to get ice from the giant hopper! I still grimace at the thought of straight tap water. It’s not a will power thing–trust me I’d have caved long ago. I just really love ice water and the desire for soda disappeared.
This is why when I decided where Jennifer DiDio Photography would be involved locally and globally in the world to relieve suffering, the clean water cause was an obvious choice. I am committed to returning 50% of the profits from running my boutique model portrait business back into the world. Sometimes that’s right here with families within our community, other times its families I will never meet around the world. I know how priceless the portraits we create are to my clients, I’ve heard it time and time again, but I wanted to ratchet it up a notch. When I look back on my portraits, I want them to be valued as priceless, not economical. This has driven a business model that stresses excellence from A to Z and places a high priority on giving back. I want this business to make a difference in eternity by offering the hope found in a life knowing Jesus Christ. His mandate was to pour ourselves out in love and to be the light that shines in the darkness. We live in abounding material blessing in America, so sharing that to provide basic necessities to those in need is a primary fueling source for the stamina needed to run this business with excellence.
I wanted to update all my clients who have entrusted me to preserve the beauty of the life they are creating. I want you to know, you made this well possible. Today 150 people celebrate the ability to have clean water brought up from a well within their very community. Scott Harrison, the founder of Charitywater.org, said it best below:
“For many people, your gift was an answer to years—sometimes decades—of prayer. For others, it was a sudden realized and unexplained hope in a forgotten place where dreams of a better future had died long ago.” That’s where your decision to have portraits created by Jennifer DiDio Photography steps in! Here’s to making this one life we have count! 😉
