Avenue Studios Doesn’t Just Take Photos—It Gives Them

“We capture life’s moments one frame at a time.”That’s the motto of the owners of Avenue Studios, a photography and videography studio based in Rock Island, Illinois. It’s also their motivation behind using their talents for charity.

Husband-and-wife team Carrie and Dave Meumann of Avenue Studios feel so blessed to be doing what they love for a living that they have decided to bless others in return. How? By participating in Help-Portrait, a worldwide movement of photographers, hairstylists, and makeup artists who use their time and tools to give back to those in need.

Help-Portrait is a nonprofit organization that’s all about empowerment—giving pictures, not taking them. It works like this: volunteers find someone in need, take their picture, print it, and deliver the finished portrait to the model—all completely free of charge. It’s a huge project; by the end of last year’s event, around 10,000 volunteers across 28 countries had distributed 44,240 portraits to people in need.

The Meumanns have been part of the Quad Cities chapter of Help-Portrait for several years. Each December, they partner with a core team of Quad Cities artists to give back to the community in an empowering new way.

“It’s incredible to be a part of this event,”says Carrie. “The smiles we see and stories we hear about families who have never had a professional portrait taken are so heartwarming. You can’t help but want to be there year after year.”

And that’s exactly what she and her husband plan to do. It makes sense, considering that Help-Portrait shares practically the same goal as Avenue Studios: giving people the chance to “capture a moment, a memory…and a whole lot more.”

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