Do1Thing Blog

Renowned photographer Martin Schoeller photographs many of the most well know celebrities, sports heroes, royal families and elected officials worldwide. What you many not know about Martin is that he also donates his time to photograph foster children hoping to be adopted through his work for The Heart Gallery of New Jersey and this year he photographed dozens of homeless youth who aged out of foster care for the Do1Thing project.

When Esquire Magazine ran a portfolio of Martin’s images including his cover photograph of George Clooney in May’s issue, Martin also included images of homeless youth. Next to his images of Clooney, Brad Pitt, President Obama, Justin Timberlake, John McEnroe, Denzel Washington, Arnold Schwarznegger, Joe Namath, Alex Rodriguez and so many other famous names were Martin’s images of homeless youths Edrice Cooper, Salif Diarrassouba and Eric Crespin.

Martin Schoeller is a New York based photographer whose style is distinguished by similar treatment of all subjects whether they are celebrities or unknown. His most recognizable work are his portraits, shot with similar lighting, backdrop, and tone. His work appears in The New Yorker, Outside Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, and Vogue.

Berrie Foundation Pays Tribute to New Jersey’s Unsung Heroes for Acts of Community Service

Recipients of 2009 Russ Berrie Award for Making a Difference – Honored at Ramapo College Ceremony

The Russell Berrie Foundation carries on the values and passions of the late Russell Berrie, through promoting the continuity of the Jewish people, fostering religious understanding and pluralism, supporting advances in diabetes and humanistic medical care, celebrating unsung heroes and elevating the profession of sales.

Last year the foundation honored Do1Thing founder Najlah Feanny Hicks for her work in co-founding the Heart Gallery of New Jersey, a traveling portrait gallery that publicizes the plight of adoption-eligible children mired in the foster care system. To date, 191 New Jersey foster children have been adopted because of the Heart Gallery’s efforts.

She used most of her award to launch an organization called Do1Thing. It’s a nationwide effort of photographers, writers and Web designers to portray the face of homeless teenagers. The Web-based organization links to a number of non-profit partners that provide services to homeless teens. In recalling last year’s ceremony, Hicks said, “The beauty of this is that it allowed me to do one more thing. There is always something each of you can give.”

Read about the 2009 recipient Patient care technician Angelica Mercado. Mercado assisteda driver whose gas tanker overturned and exploded. Driver by as the accident occured, she pulled over at the scene of the accident, pulled the driver to safety and transported the driver to the hospital. Healthcare professionals at The University Hospital in Newark, where the driver was taken, believe Mercado’s quick actions likely saved the man’s life.

Check it out

Do1Thing is giving a shout out to the folks over at DeviantArt who donated proceeds from their Color Me Club May Lineart Contest to helping homeless kids. The donated $2 from each entry totaling $226 and sent us the proceeds.

Just one more way each one of us can do 1 thing to help.

Thanks DeviantArt and all the artists who participated!