[Leica] Meaningful Photography - www.peaceprojects.org

[Alistair Stewart <AStewart@gigaweb.com>]

Sorry for the wrong earlier title



Luggers,

please check out this URL : www.peaceprojects.org, and read the message
below. I met with Tannen a few days ago, and the concept is very
interesting. Who of us can help, and how?


Tina - what do you think?

Alistair Stewart



To all who have expressed an interest in supporting PeaceProjects:

I wish to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on the activities of
PeaceProjects, Inc., our present status and where we hope to go. But first I
want to extend my appreciation to all of you who have written either to join
us or wish us well.

As many of you know, PeaceProjects, Inc. has recently been given 501(c)3
tax-exempt status from the IRS. This makes us a fully bona fide non-profit
organization, qualified to raise money to support our programs while
offering the advantage of tax deductibility to those who contribute to us.
While this process was unfolding, I moved twice, first from New York to
Dallas, then from Dallas to Chicago (actually Evanston, IL.) Needless to
say, moving cross-country complicated matters a bit and forced us to proceed
with PeaceProjects, Inc. a bit slower than we would have liked. On the
positive side, This delay gave my partner and PeaceProjects' vice president
Jef Judin time to complete two videos. The first is a well-received video
for Save the Children and the second is a PeaceProjects promotional video. 

From the start, Jef and I envisioned PeaceProjects to be an organization
with three primary goals: First to provide images to the NGO community that
they can otherwise not afford or do not have the knowledge to acquire.
Second, to provide opportunities for photo and video journalists to document
situations around the world addressed by the NGOs. Third, in accomplishing
the first two, to support PeaceProjects as an organization comprised of
participants who all feel they have a vested interest in it and truly
believe that it supports them. 

Now, armed with these videos and images produced in Africa for Food for the
Hungry, images from Mexico and the U.S. for World SHARE, images from the
U.S. for Operation Smile, among others, it is time to move forward and make
PeaceProjects the organization that the NGO (non-governmental organization,
i.e. relief and aid groups) community seeks out to provide the still and
video images needed to tell their stories and further their work. 

We stand on a threshold.... At a point where we can take back journalism
from the tabloids and send it in a new direction where it again informs
rather than entertains. Our venue is the non-profit arena and our
publication will be the high-tech formats of the Internet and CD-ROM.
Viewers will again respond to situations with gifts of time, talent and
financial resources because of our work while we fulfill PeaceProjects'
mission of providing a window into the only industry dedicated to humanity. 

The element needed to make this happen is money. You are the talent and you
stand ready. We have the articles of incorporation and blessings of the U.S.
Government through their agent, the IRS. The money is needed to pay your
weekly rates, to purchase digital cameras, computers, sat phones, film and
pay for processing, to cover travel and living costs while on assignment and
insure that the images go where they can do the most good and that you, the
authors of the images, are able to hold onto the rights to them.

Therefore I am issuing this CALL TO ACTION to each of you to join us in
bringing PeaceProjects, Inc. to life as an organization financially
independent of the organizations we serve. PeaceProjects, Inc. needs your
help in the form of suggestions for funding sources. We need your influence
and the influence of your work. We need you to keep us in mind as you go
about your normal routine of producing images. Be on the lookout for
potential donors in family members, friends, business associates, subjects
of your images, etc. Make contacts and spread our word. Be especially
conscious of corporations that have or are interested in starting
philanthropic endeavors or partnerships that will be high profile and
provide a high rate of return on their donations. Be free in sharing this
information with Jef and me so we can follow up on your contacts. 

PeaceProjects will be a force with which to be reckoned. We will be on the
front lines delivering the images and it will be very difficult to ignore
them or us. Those corporations who join with us and support us can share in
the publicity and our images will attract. 

Sincerely,


Tannen H. Maury
President
2748 Garrison Ave
Evanston, Il, 60201
847-570-5828
847-922-9564 Cell

Jef Judin
4712 Dubarry Ln
Jackson, MS 39209
601-922-3635
601-937-5020
Jef@netdoor.com