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Bordentown Rotary Club Young Professionals-Walk 4 Recovery-Love The Addict, Hate The Disease-Covered by Photojournalist Deirdre Ryan

Last night, I volunteered my photography services with my local Rotary Club for the first Walk 4 Recovery(#walk4recovery). We all met at Hope Hose Humane Co. 1 Firehouse, which is literally steps from my home. The night was cold, our breaths made clouds in the air, but the common ground we all stood upon was one to last and encourage.

This walk was also to support those fighting against addictions, which is a disease, their families and friends who are helping them. To get rid of the stigma of addiction.

I saw many who have lost family members, and friends to addiction, a lot of familiar faces. One family here in Bordentown have lost a son and, very recently, lost a daughter to addiction.

Our local police blocked off the streets, making it safe for us to walk. This was all made possible by volunteers, from the t-shirts, the food, everything.  Bill Mercantini, our Bordentown Rotary Club President spoke, then Mayor Lynch. Angelique Flynn spoke of her struggles with addiction, who is now 8 years sober. Father Matt Tucker offered a prayer and spoke out at least 50 names of those lost or struggling. This walk was enormous for its the first time, I think about 200 people attended.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible!

The article below is from The Burlington County Times, their reporter, Kelly Kultys and photographer Dave Hernandez, covered the event, as well as The Register-News(which is now back).

http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/news/20181114/bordentown-residents-walk-for-recovery

Bordentown residents walk for recovery

By Kelly Kultys

Posted Nov 14, 2018 at 9:40 PM Updated Nov 14, 2018 at 10:41 PM

The Bordentown Rotary Club and the Young Professional Rotary Club of Bordentown hosted the first Candlelight Walk as a way to help break the stigma of addiction.

BORDENTOWN CITY — “I walk for …” signs covered the backs of hundreds of people Wednesday night as they walked with candles in hand around the city.

The crowd gathered together for the first Rotary4Recovery walk, aimed at helping break the stigma of addiction and recovery.

Dawn Walton, of Mansfield, was walking for her son Boomer who passed away on Aug. 12 after he struggled with addiction.

“It’s great to see everyone come together and support this,” she said.

The walk was organized by the Young Professional Rotary Club of Bordentown, a new group formed out of the Bordentown Rotary, which began earlier this year.

Co-chairs Hillary Moore and Katrina Brophy, both of Bordentown City, said they thought it was important to get everyone together and show they supported those in recovery.

“I personally have lost someone to addiction,” Moore said.

That’s why she said it was important to get a large crowd together to “break the stigma” that those with addiction face.

Bill Mercantini, the president of the Bordentown Rotary, said the event had been a vision of his for a while and he was glad to be a part of the walk for those in recovery.

“I’m walking for Nick,” he said, referring to a family member.

For many of those in attendance, the loss from addiction weighed heavily on their minds as they walked. Michelle Trogdon, of Hamilton, Shannon Sticca, of Bordentown Township, and Chris Millington, of Bordentown Township, said between their family and friends they lost three people to overdoses within a three-week span over the summer.

Millington said it was great to see more than 200 people turn out for the walk.

“It’s so awesome and the thing is, it’s a sad thing and it’s a good thing, we know everyone here pretty much and it’s kind of sad because we’re all so connected,” she said.

For Angelique Flynn, of Burlington City, being a part of the walk allowed her to share her story to try and inspire others in recovery.

“I’m active in the community as a volunteer,” she said. “I own my business, I teach yoga. I am a homeowner and I live a truly amazing life and I’m so blessed to have it. I tell you all of this because this wasn’t always my story.”

She recalled trying to fill a void in her life and never being quite able to do so.

“My favorite thing to use was drugs,” she said.

Eventually, she was able to get into a 12-step program and now has been sober for eight years, but she still sees how addiction is affecting her community.

“The longer I stay clean, the more people I’ve lost,” she said.

Bordentown City Mayor Jim Lynch said the best way to try and tackle the problem is to come together for events like the walk to show that the community members support each other.

“You have no better cooperation than we have right now between the two municipalities (Bordentown City and Bordentown Township),” he said.

Lynch highlighted the work of resident Kevin Moore, who has been active with Bordentown Residents Against Drugs, and currently serves as the Bordentown Township/City Municipal Alliance Coordinator, for his work to bring resources and awareness to those struggling.

Before the walk, a list of more than 50 names of people both living and deceased who had battled or were battling addiction was read so that those walking would have them on their minds.

Here are some of the images that I took the other night:

Toscanos donated their fabulous Mac-N-Cheese!

Hampton Behavior Health Center

Sundays Catering

Bill Mercantini our Bordentown Rotary Club President.

Bordentown Mayor Lynch

Angelique Flynn

Hilary Moore of the Young Professionals Bordentown Rotary Club.

Father Matt Tucker

Hilary Moore asking for a moment of silence before heading out.

Once again, thank you all for participating and volunteering. This event I think will be even bigger next year.

Yours In Rotary,

Deirdre

Phase One Of Clara Barton Elementary School Playground Is Complete-NJ Documentary Photographer

I’ve been a part of this Playground Committee for a very long time. For four years that me, as a business, I took portraits of kids and parents at the Annual Halloween Spooktacular, and  donated all of the funds from those to this. Other parents and local businesses donated time and money too over the years. We’re all very happy for the children and generations to come.

And it’s not over yet. There are more Phases of this project to come that need to be planned and have money raised for to get started. Here are just some one of the events put together by CBS and our PTO to help raise money:

Get Out and Play

The Vision On FB

Here is what it looked like before and while we were planting trees:

A Playground In Need

Over this summer parents, children and other volunteers, planted along the edges of the playground with a variety of plants. I can’t tell you the names of them, but what I can tell you is that some of them prevent weeds from growing in. Perhaps my friends who were there can comment below on the exact names and who donated which kinds, etc. I just know that they look great and that they are green 😉

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Then the playground equipment arrived and was assembled. I wasn’t able to get there in time for that. But my daughter and I did go to the playground before they put it up after we spent the day at the pool. I just had my cell phone on me.

                                                 

But the next time I went I had my better camera and took these:

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Then I got word that they were getting the surface laid in, so I headed over again. The guys were super cool and chill and didn’t mind me taking their photos.

The company that came in was The Playground Pros.

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That black surface was just the first layer, then they came back to add the final layer and what you see next is the top green. The day was overcast and I had my daughter with me. They let her play a little on the playground before they moved over to that section.

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Then this past week was the Official Ribbon Cutting. It was great seeing friends and the kids there. The evening was just beautiful, as it’s been very hot and humid so far. They had free Rita’s water ice, school officials were there, and it was a great event. A lot of hard work was put into it, from years ago until the present, and more must still be done.

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Thank you to everyone who helped to make this entire thing become a possibility! I can’t wait to continue to with the rest!

A Printed Portrait Speaks Volumes To Those In Need

Over the weekend I had the honor to volunteer at Chosen 300, at their soup kitchen on Spring Garden in Center City Philadelphia, PA. The event was for Help-Portrait, is about giving people who otherwise couldn’t afford photography a portrait, a print to take home with them. This event happens once a year in December, a global event, put together by photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, and countless volunteers and donations. I had heard about this a while ago and I could finally make it this year.

My husband was able to join me, so we drove into the city from NJ. We met in Center City and lived on 15th and Locust, so coming into Philly is like home to us.

When we first arrived, we cleared out the tables and chairs to set up our photo stations. People donated their photo printers, snacks for us to eat, and many of us(myself included) brought in frames to put the printed images into. Then once we set up, we all tested our lights on each other.

Photo By Kristina White

Photo by Kristina White.

Me being photographed by Jaleel King by Photo By Kristina White

This is me being shot by Jaleel King, photo by Kristina White.

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This gentleman was my first client, and he was a HUGE Cowboys football fan in Eagles country! HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography2_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography3_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography4_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography5_Philadelphia

We had to have some fun by putting some Eagles in the photo, and of course, The Eagles won the very next day!HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography7_Philadelphia

Photo By Kristina White

Here he is with the photograph in the frame that I took and he chose. Looks great! Photo by Kristina White. HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography8_Philadelphia

This gentleman had never had a portrait of himself wearing a suit other than the uniform he wore when he was shipped out to Vietnam. HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography9_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography10_Philadelphia

Photo By Kristina White

Photo by Kristina White.

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This is me with my client with the image he chose in a frame. Photo by David W. Ryan.

In between clients, I got some quick shots of some behind the scenes.BehindTheScenesHelpPortrait-DeirdreRyanPhotography_Philadelphia BehindTheScenesHelpPortrait-DeirdreRyanPhotography_Philadelphia

This is Jaleel King showing his client the portrait he just took on the back of his camera.BehindTheScenesHelpPortrait-DeirdreRyanPhotography_Philadelphia BehindTheScenesHelpPortrait-DeirdreRyanPhotography_Philadelphia

Makeup artist Niki Brennan making a mother of two feel very pretty. BehindTheScenesHelpPortrait-DeirdreRyanPhotography_Philadelphia

Cathie Berrey-Green of BG Productions working her fun station to making the kids and mom have great portraits.
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When Carrie showed the mother the printed portraits, she cried, because she loved them so much. We all were crying, it was very emotional, that is why we do this.

 

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This spunky little 3 year old young lady was such a treat! She was a little shy at first, but I got her to warm up to me. HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography12_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography13_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography14_Philadelphia

Especially after asking if I had stinky feet, and she said yes! Then I asked if her grandmother had stinky feet, and she said, yes! I got her giggling lolHelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography15_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography16_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography17_Philadelphia

This young man was quite and reserved, but I could tell that he loved to be outgoing and friendly.  HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography18_Philadelphia

Photo By Kristina White

He was 6’7 and I’m 5’0, I tried a few with him standing but I preferred the ones I showed here. Photo by Kristina White. HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography19_Philadelphia

This gentleman was also 6’7, so I had him sitting down too. He lost everything he had to a house fire, including family pictures.  HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography20_Philadelphia HelpPortraits_DeirdreRyanPhtography21

I had a quick moment so I shot this portrait of one of the photographers who was there.

Help Portrait Group Photo by Kevin High Photography

At the end of the day, we all got together to take a group photo. Photo by Kevin High. I am so happy that I could participate for this worthy cause to give back, make new friends, and meet new people. Plus, we were able to get back home in time to see our little girl play in her first basketball game of the season, and her team WON!

Thank you everyone!!!!

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