This past August I was blessed to be asked to capture the beautiful, sweet, spunky, funny, incredibly strong Hazel for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The St. Baldricks Foundation is one of the most dedicated foundations to raising awareness and funds to fight childhood cancer. With the help of my good friend, Debbie, we put our heads together and came up with this whimsical costume for Hazel to wear and play in. At the time I met Hazel, she was cancer free and doing well! I had so much fun taking her photos and enjoyed meeting her incredible mom (who is so strong, there are no words). These images were to become a big part of the Kids are Gold Campaign with one of the images landing in New York’s Times Square, multiple events, and several were also featured on television. What an honor to be working for such a worthy cause. I cannot put into words how grateful and blessed I feel to have not only met and spent time with Hazel, but to also have worked on a campaign to help raise awareness and aid for childrens cancer research. I have learned so much and I strive to continue to learn more.
Unfortunately, just two weeks after capturing these beautiful images of Hazel, she came out of remission and has been battling cancer again. She is a tough cookie though and so far she is coming out ahead. She just celebrated her 6th birthday! If you are interested in Hazel’s story, you can follow, read, help the family and donate here: Hope for Hazel or follow her story on facebook or instagram.
Hazel and her family’s story is inspirational. I encourage you to get to know Hazel, she will touch your heart. She is one of life’s most beautiful gifts as you can see in the images below.
