'Snaps 4 Grads' helps HS seniors afford photos

MEDFORD, Ore. — Two local photographers are making sure homeless and low income teens get senior photos for the yearbook. Snaps 4 Grads is offering free photo shoots to high school seniors in need.

With roughly 3,000 homeless students in the Medford School District, Snaps 4 Grads wants high school seniors to feel like every other student.

“Sometimes you don’t know, the other kids don’t know what another kid’s going through,” Jennifer Skinner, Jenny Lane Photography, said.

Along with a cap and gown, senior photos are often seen as a right of passage. But for some high school students, it’s an added cost they just can’t afford.

“A lot of the kids that I work with are homeless. They don’t want their friends knowing where they’re living, that they’re couch surfing,” Skinner said.

Snaps 4 Grads started two years ago by two local photographers, Skinner and Buffy Pollock. Now, they work with local schools to help connect them with students in need.

“Kids already feel different enough when it comes to being in high school and being bullied for being different and so we wanted them to feel the same as all the other kids,” Skinner said.

Skinner says they go beyond just taking photos. She helps them with hair, makeup and has even lent some of the girls clothes, all in an effort to make them feel beautiful.

“I said, ‘Do you want to see what you look like?’ They’re like, ‘No Jenny. That’s okay. That’s okay. That’s okay.’ I’m like, ‘No, you need to see what you look like. I want you to see you how I see you.’ and, and so they look and they’re like, ‘Oh wow.’ You know? And they actually smile and it’s like the most rewarding, rewarding thing ever,” Skinner said.

Skinner says often the students just need someone to talk to.

“They should be celebrated. I mean that’s a huge feat to graduate from high school going through all that they have gone through,” Skinner said.

Right now, they’re asking for donations to cover gas and photo prints. Skinner says a donation of $50 is enough to provide photo shoots for up to two students.

GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/snaps-4-grads?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

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