A Footnote

[Mhayes]

Hi Everyone,

Just a note to let you know that we still have 12 families from the Nashville flood yet to put out in our galleries. Added to that are the photos currently available.

Yesterday I received an email from V. Summers in TN wondering how we were coming along with her family photos and also to let me know that they had moved from address she had listed on the sign in sheet. She said:  "I know it takes time for the restoration process but I started thinking what if you didn't have a current address to send them to and they were just sitting there.   I would greatly appreciate an update." She listed her phone number and even though I had her email; I decided that to call her instead.

She was so surprised when I called within minutes of receiving her email. I told her that we were coming close to finishing up the Nashville photos, but that hers had not been placed out yet. After talking with her and knowing that my gallery was down in size, I put her photos in my gallery---SummersV_15.

I told her that with all of the disasters lately it is overwhelming to know where to begin and that OPR has a run in GA and Joplin planned. She told me that the tornadoes had hit her husband's family in Ohatchee, AL. Her husband had received a message from his sister on Facebook that the tornado was bearing down and that she and her husband were taking cover. The next communication they got was from a state trooper wanting to know if they knew this person that they found an address book lying in the rubble. They did, it was the sister's and later both she and her husband's bodies were found.

Getting that call that day and knowing that her photos are to be restored meant the world to her. Of her photos two are of her beloved 82 year old mother that passed away last year.

Margie

[Tori803]

What a sad story. I guess we never know how much time we have left. Or how much our efforts will mean to folks.

Tori

[Charity]

I can't believe the devastation that has hit the country lately. It must really get overwhelming for the organizers of OPR.. I will continue to help out as much as possible.  I know that if I were in a similar situation, I would love to have help in the restoration of priceless memories. And, if there is one rule to live your life by.. it is the rule of reciprocity.

How many ACTIVE volunteers do you currently have? How many photos are typically brought in on a run? How long have you been working on Nashville, being that I just started last week?

I'm curious about the inner workings.

Thank you!

[Mhayes]

Hi Charity,

To learn more about the Nashville run and the number of photos, go to the OPR home page http://www.operationphotorescue.org/ and click on "Looking Back at 2010." That will take you to the blog telling more about the copy run in Sept 2010. Also, look at some of the others and you will get an idea of some of the other runs.

As to the question of how many "Active" Volunteers, that is a little harder. Around 200 give or take is a fair number in a year and of those 200, you have less than 50 that once they finish a restore, they are on to the next. Plus, some members in a year may take out only one photo and never come back and the reason is probably their level of experience is not up to restoring  the difficult ones. That is why it is so important to take a photo that is not too difficult or you will get discouraged. We also have members that are not active in restoring, but they help on runs and ones that help us by promotion such as Matt Kloskowski from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) who promotes us at Photoshop World events.

Margie