The Front Steps Project | Book Birthday

This morning, I sat down to tackle a task I’ve tackled a few days before Thanksgiving every year for the last ten years.

My “Thankful” video (coming soon!) is a tradition I’ve created for myself in my business.  Creating it is a way for me to thumb through my photos for the year and reflect on how lucky I am to do what I do, and to have the support of all the people who make it possible.

Every year, when I do this, there are categories of photos that I purposefully leave out of the video.  Photos from my annual micro mini session event and school photos, for example, don’t make the cut — there’s simply not enough room, and the photos from sessions that really have my heart – family sessions – need all the space they can get.  This year, though, there’s a giant category of photos that really stands out in my annual reflection. After dropping them on the proverbial cutting room floor, I picked them up and decided they needed their very own video.

Who remembers the Pelham Front Stoop Project last spring?  Watch this – I guarantee it’ll make you happy:

It turns out that today is the PERFECT day to have made this decision, because TODAY is the book birthday for the book that came from the broader version of this wonderful project, The Front Steps Project.  Inspired by my friend Caitrin Dunphy’s first IG post about this project, I spearheaded the Pelham Front Stoop Project with local photographers Liz Farrell, Jelena Mileno and Lori Carlton and  organizational masterminds Lisa Horten, Stacy Gatto and Jill Kirby of the Junior Leage of Pelham.  Pelham has a few photos in the book representing us and that time in the history of our little community.  We all came out of our homes and smiled for the camera to support Pelham Cares, which provided meals to our front line workers from our struggling local businesses.  I’ll tell you what – those were not easy times, but we got through it. And we will, if need be, get through it again.  Keep up that amazing community spirit, Pelham!

The Front Steps Project has become a worldwide movement, raising over three MILLION dollars for local charities worldwide. Thanks to founders Cara Soulia and Kristen Collins, word of the movement has reached far and wide – one of our own families graced the pages of People Magazine thanks to their efforts. (You saw that, right?)

And if YOU would like your very own copy of the Front Steps Project book, you’re in luck! The book is NOW available everywhere books are sold.  In the spirit of helping each other and each other’s small businesses, though, why not purchase from my favorite local bookseller, Francine, of The Voracious Reader?  This is how Francine describes the book:  “It is really a celebration of community, and of resilience and it’s just a beautiful and uplifting tribute to all of us… and how we’ve weathered through.”  Get your copy from The Voracious Reader HERE.

It’s time to start baking pies, friends, so that’s enough reflection for me for today.  I leave you with my own family’s PFSP photo, taken by Liz Farrell:

I’m MAD at us for not taking a photo of our PFSP team that celebratory night outside Cantina Lobos in June. What were we thinking?  Maybe a reunion is in order …

Thanks for looking,

~Jaye

Remember this was beautiful.

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Jaye McLaughlin Photography specializes in documentary style lifestyle family and newborn photography in Westchester County, NYC, Connecticut and beyond.  I would love to begin planning your family photo session. View more of my work in my family portfolio HERE.  Check out some brand new sweetness in my newborn portfolio HERE. If you’re interested in a family, newborn or maternity session and would like to learn more, click HERE.  To get in touch, just go HERE, or email me or call me directly at jaye@jayemclaughlin.com or 914.263.0236.  I look forward to hearing from you!