Where The Money Goes

Liz Whitaker visits with Scholarship recipients Jessica Livengood (left) and Beatirz Duran (right)
By Ria Ryne

As everyone familiar with the Western Photographic Historical Society knows, each year we solicit scholarship applications from full-time college students majoring in photography. At $5,000 each, these scholarships enable our organization to have a significant impact on the lives of the students who receive them.
At the May meeting WPHS members and guests were given an opportunity to see where the money goes, when two scholarship recipients, Beatriz Duran and Jessica Livengood presented a program showing us how they spent the scholarship money awarded them and giving us a glimpse into their photography.
In the current economic climate, belt-tightening is going on everywhere, many organizations are forced to cut back on the assistance that they are able to provide to students and for many the much-needed help simply isn't there. At times such as these, it is important for us to reflect upon the difference we can make to an individual and by extension to the community at large. It is important for us to consider that a $5,000 scholarship may very well make the difference between realizing a dream and having to give up its pursuit. It is important for each one of us, as members of the Western Photographic Historical Society and therefore presumably in agreement with our mission of education to do whatever it is within our power to do to ensure that the WPHS is able to continue that mission.
So volunteer your time at the sale or auction, write an article for the newsletter, donate equipment you are no longer using. Remember, we're all in this together.