Creatives Give Back

Burk Jackson kneeled in front of the small, shy child, his eye framing her face in his viewfinder. She was nervous and fidgety, looking away at first. Changing his angle, he coaxed her eyes to meet the lens. He was determined to get a good shot – her future life depended on it.

As a volunteer with the Heart Gallery, Burk used his camera and his professional background as a photographer to help the organization capture the images it needed most – those of hard-to-adopt orphans.

“I could see it in her eyes that she didn’t know who she would be calling ‘Mom’ or where she would be living at any given moment. It was a challenging shoot for me, emotionally and technically, and we finally got a great shot of her. All it took was a few hours of my life to possibly have a tremendous effect on hers. Reflecting back on that [experience] was what started the whole process - that someone, doing what they love, in my case it was photography, could have a direct and profound effect on someone else’s life.”


Burk began to make phone calls to nonprofits in the area, offering to do photography for them, but what he found was that most organizations he contacted didn’t have a clear idea of how to use the service he was offering.

“I felt there had to be a better way for photographers (and other creatives) to volunteer their time and effort. That’s when CreativeCares came to mind, the idea that, through a gathering place of creatives willing to contribute and non-profits in need, the process could happen and everyone could benefit.”

Armed with a vision, a mission, and a whole lot of patience, Burk started CreativeCares eight months ago, intent on creating a virtual gathering place where creatives and non-profits could find one another and begin discussing ideas and collaborating on projects. The “creatives” that Burk hopes to connect run the gamut from photographers to web designers, PR people, social media gurus and more. The nonprofits that have already reaped the benefits of CreativeCares partnerships range from local favorites like The Bus Project, The Right Brain Initiative, and ReBuilding Portland to international organizations like Disability Aid Abroad, which works to change the lives of people with disabilities living in developing countries.

To date, CreativeCares has signed on 10 nonprofit organizations and completed five projects in its first eight months. The hope is that these connections will grow exponentially as more nonprofits and creatives discover the site and get matched up. But with a core board of only three and Burk in charge of the majority of the behind-the-scenes work, he realizes he’s not just looking for creatives to link up with other nonprofits… he needs some volunteer help himself!

Interested in helping non-profits tell their story, expand their reach, and connect with people that support their cause? CreativeCares could use a nonprofit organization outreach coordinator to outreach to new nonprofits and guide them through the process of joining CreativeCares.

Enjoy telling stories and want to hone your PR skills? Help CreativeCares get the word out about its goings-on through press releases and the news media as its “Shameless Propaganda Dissemination Expert”.

How about Twitter? Facebook? Blogging? Could you be the Social Media Guru CreativeCares is looking for?

Check out all of CreativeCares’ internal volunteer opportunities on the Hands On website. Or visit CreativeCares.org to learn more about how to get linked up as a participating creative professional or nonprofit organization (please note that the CreativeCares website will be receiving a full make-over in the next month, so stayed tuned for a new and improved CreativeCares site).