Photographic Exhibit Of Children Waiting To Be Adopted Previews During Multi-City Adoption Bike Tour

Expect to see more than just bikers during the state of Tennessee’s 2nd Annual Adoption Bike Tour. The tour launched earlier this week to raise awareness about the need for adoptive families. This year’s event includes a preview of an artistic exhibit of adoptable children, entitled the Heart Gallery Tennessee. This nationally recognized photographic exhibit created by Gift for a Child, Inc./Heart Gallery Southeast is one of the most effective tools in the quest to find homes for many of these children.

Photographers from across Tennessee decided to help foster children find forever families through photographs. Knoxville photographers Charlie Brooks and Tom Stanford are helping Gift for a Child/Heart Gallery Southeast with everything from photo editing to selection of photographers for the project. Charlie Brooks has photographed children in need for United Way for more than 20 years and is well known for his stunning portraits of celebrities and corporate executives. Stanford is director of photography at The Tennessean and former photojournalist for USA Today and the Times.

“Photographers use images to tell many stories about people and businesses. Our goal is to help convey a visual story about these children with the hope that a family or individual will respond to a photograph they see through the Heart Gallery,” said Charlie Brooks, owner, Charles Brooks Photography in Knoxville. Brooks was the first photographer to volunteer his time to help Rene Gunn, founding executive director of Gift for a Child with the Heart Gallery program in Tennessee.


Another photographer that was eager to help early on was Memphis photographer Hal Jaffee. He photographed more than 20 children for the Heart Gallery Tennessee. Many of his beautiful images of children in Shelby County were on display this week in Memphis.

Chattanooga photographers, led by children’s portrait and wedding artist Melody Hood, created images of more than 25 children. “I cried for two hours after one child I photographed asked me if the pictures would help him find a family, said Hood, owner of Innamorata Photography. This one child’s words made me want to photograph as many children as possible.”

After Nashville, the Heart Gallery Tennessee exhibit is headed to Lebanon, Crossville, Kingsport ending in Knoxville at the World’s Fair Park where visitors will visually meet each child as they glance at each symbolic snapshot. The Heart Gallery Tennessee exhibit continues its multi-city tour in 2007.

About Gift for a Child Inc.
Gift for a Child Inc. is a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness and finding permanent homes and a brighter future for children in the foster care system. The organization works with child welfare agencies, businesses, schools and churches to bring the community closer to the reality that there are thousands of children who need help finding a family they can call their own.

About The Heart Gallery Southeast Program
The Heart Gallery Southeast Program is an adoption recruitment program of Gift for a Child Inc. designed to raise awareness and educate the communities in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee concerning the urgent need for foster and adoptive families in the Southeast. Gift for a Child operates Heart Gallery Tennessee, Heart Gallery Georgia, Heart Gallery Mississippi and Heart Gallery Charlotte.
About the Heart Gallery Tennessee Photographers
The following professional photographers, listed in alphabetical order, are donating their time and energy to advance the cause and visibility of foster children in Tennessee.

Neal Ammons, Mark Bocci, Jerry Borwick, Charlie Brooks, Dean Carothers, Owen Cobb, Jason Connel, Donna Farnsworth, Jean Phillipe Cypress, Mike Fesmire, Jarrett Gaza, Norm Gilbert, Beth Gwinn, Caitlin Harris, Chris Hollo, Melody Hood, Hal Jaffee, Michelle Winter Johnson, Eddie Lambert, Sheilah Lansky, Scott Lee, Jon Morgan, Stephanie Mullins, Bob Patterson, Christine Patterson, Liz Power, Terry Power, Richard Ramsey, Sheri Reno, Alexis Robbins, Billy Ross, Bob Schatz, Nola Swartz, Jan Shivley, Diana Simpson, Clark Thomas, Jason Simpson, Tom Stanford, Wade Tipton, Don Tritt, Beth Valentine, Christine Winter.

For more information on how you can help or donate to Gift for a Child/Heart Gallery Tennessee, visit www.giftforachild.org or email Elaine Cash at ecash@giftforachild.org.

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