Do1Thing Blog

Have you guys been watching those awesome videos on the do1thing multimedia page?

Well, here’s the man who literally spent hundreds of hours editing video interviews and helping other photographers put their videos together. He edited images, produced videos, troubleshooted technical issues and was an all around great guy always willing to help anyone.

If you ever wondered if there’s still an old fashioned good guy out there? Well, we found one. THANK YOU Curt, Penn State and all the interns across the country.

Do1Thing co-founder Najlah Feanny Hicks watches Do1Thing videos with son Mikey, 7, and a full house of Do1Thingers  at Covenant House in Newark.  More than 500 people showed up at Covenant House to drop off donations of food and toiletries, to take tours, meet the kids and get educated about homeless teens in America.

Alex Daley-Clark, Do1Thing Director of Photography flew in from her home in Maine to direct, edit and blog from Covenant House in Newark.  Daley-Clark has spent the past three months lining up photographers in 20 different cities for today’s Do1Thing Homeless Youth campaign.  Without those photographers we wouldn’t have photos.  But without Alex we wouldn’t have had all those photographers.

Alex operates her own freelance photography business from Maine.

The cars started lining up outside Covenant House in Newark at 10 am, the lobby was so full with people that you couldn’t get through.  Girl scouts, boy scouts and moms and dads with boxes and bags full of donated goods.  All doing their 1 thing.  Hours later Newark Covenant House outreach and volunteer coordinator Janette Scrozzo surveyed the room where everything was stored.

While waiting to photograph volunteers I had a chance to take a tour of Covenant House with Eddie, one of the residents, as my guide. Eating chocolate hearts as we walked and talked, he told me about his dreams of owning a chain of restaurants someday…with chocolate confections as the crown jewel of his plan….complete with details about an intricate chocolate fountain that he wants to design. I have no doubt that he can accomplish it. Eddie was suddenly homeless two weeks before he started his senior year of high school and spent the night before sleeping on the steps waiting for the doors to open. He has college plans in the fall, complete with scholarships.

The donations kept pouring in until the volunteers finally packed away the donation table out front.  Those of us in Houston would like to thank all of our subjects for allowing us to tell their stories, the hard-working staff at Covenant House, all the volunteers, and the countless Houstonians who came out to Do 1 Thing today.

Andres checks out some donated sneakers in a room that was filled to overflowing. It took three rooms like this to handle the outpouring of donations from the community. (Photo by Smiley N. Pool)

Writer Jessica Johns Pool got into the spirit of the day. (Photo by Smiley N. Pool)

To learn more about Houston’s Do1Thing team, visit these Web sites:

Dave Einsel, photographer: www.daveeinsel.com

Amina Rivera, writer: www.dailycougar.com

Robert Seale, photographer: www.robertseale.com

Todd Spoth, visual journalist: www.toddspoth.com

Jessica Johns Pool, writer: www.jjpeditorial.com

Smiley Pool, photojournalist: www.smileypool.com

Melissa stops by with donations and a smile.

Andres has had his teddy bear since he was 1 year old and it’s traveled the world with him.

“I’ve had it everywhere through everything. I’ve had it since before my mother left me,” said Andres. “We’ve been to Nicaragua (his mother’s home), to New York, California, Washington, the road trips, the street.”

Andres likens it to the Harry Potter character who puts his soul into an object. “That bear is basically my soul.”

Andres loves baseball, wants to be a graphic designer and plays guitar.

Dave Einsel photographs Andres with his cherished teddy bear. (Photo by Smiley N. Pool)