Zack, 13, is like many other kids his age. He loves football. He likes to go fishing. Likes to ride his bike and he likes to eat.
Zack also is looking for a forever family through the Kansas Children’s Service League. With the help of Dave Stormont of Custom Photography, Zack will have a little extra help with finding that family. Stormont, who has had his own studio for 15 years, volunteered through the Kansas Professional Photographers Association to take photos of Zack for a photo exhibit, “Klicks for Kids.”
Klicks for Kids is in its fourth year and is put on by the Kansas Children’s Service League. Klicks for Kids is a gallery style event that features 52 photos of children taken by Kansas’ professional photographers. Stormont said he volunteered to take photos because there was no one in this area and he wanted to give back to the photographers association.
“I think it’s a good program,” Stormont said. “It gives the kids a chance to be exposed in a professional way.”
Joan Hobbs, of the Kansas Children’s Service League, drove to Emporia from Pittsburg to be at the photo shoot.
“We have photographers all over the state who have committed to take photos of our kids for us,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs said the photo gallery travels across the state of Kansas for a year. According to a press release, previous galleries resulted in about 25 percent of the children featured finding adoptive families as well as hundreds of calls from Kansans interested in learning more about adoption and foster care. Once a child is adopted a sticker is placed on the photo stating the child has found a family. The child’s picture is not replaced with another one until the next year. The photos are accompanied by biographical information of the child.
“All over the state families come in and see photos of children in hopes to gain a family,” Hobbs said. “It’s a way to get children’s information out to the public.”
This year’s exhibit is tentatively scheduled to be in Emporia at the Flinthills Mall from Sept. 19 to 26. Photos of children also can be seen at kcsl.org. Photos on the Web site also are taken by professional photographers.