Charity Event with ILEA Cleveland

Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to work an event in Cleveland with ILEA Cleveland. ILEA Gives Back contributed their time helping the Cleveland Kids in Need Resource Center. Event Professionals Organization in Cleveland According to their website, ILEA, or the International Live Events Association, is a "global community of thousands of creative event professionals whose skills, expertise and experience power some of the most influential live events around the world." ILEA came to Cleveland 10 years ago. One of the main initiatives of the organization is collaboration and networking while giving it's members increased credibility within the event industry. Over the last couple of years, I've heard their name pop up here and there. Then, recently, I was contacted by a member, William of Tudor Arms Cleveland, to photograph a charity event that ILEA Gives Back would be doing in Cleveland (ILEA Gives Back is an arm of ILEA that contributes time and resources to local charities). I couldn't have been more honored to accept. Charity Event in Cleveland Cleveland Kids in Need Resource center is an organization that centers around providing educational materials for kids that need them most. Some children cannot obtain basic school supplies (pencils, crayons, folders, paper etc.) which are essential to a basic education. This is where the resource center comes in. Donations are made to the organization thru various avenues (financial donations, surplus supplies, hands on volunteering). The items that are donated are then offered to eligible teachers. Teachers are able to get the items that they need to aid in educating their students. Being a non-profit, the Resource Center is in constant need of assistance, not only with financial contributions and material items but also with labor. Moving and organizing the materials, cleaning the warehouse, inventory control. This is where ILEA Gives Back came in. A group of members volunteered their time to help with some of these duties. They helped reorganize supplies, take inventory, clean sections of the resource center. When you have a group of 15 people to help out, you can get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time and they did. A few of the members I knew and had worked with in the past. But I also met some really great people. To act selflessly on behalf of those in need is one of the highest forms of honor. I commend the group and ILEA Gives Back for helping such a worthy organization and I want to thank them for allowing me to do a tiny part by documenting it. If you would like to donate or volunteer, visit the website of the Cleveland Kids in Need Resource Center -HERE-. They could use all the help that they can get. If you are an event professional in Cleveland and are interested in finding out more about ILEA Cleveland, visit their website -HERE- Some pictures from the event.