Dreaming with The Smooch! Project

In 2010, 15 amazing people made an ongoing commitment to contribute time and energy to The Smooch! Project. This was The Smooch! Project Dream Team, a remarkable group of individuals who shared the dream of collecting 10,000 images from around the world. Dreamer Joanne McGibbon, shown above being smooched by her son, Brian, was on the team in 2010. You can read her Smooch! Project Hero story here.

All 2010 Dreamers agreed to contribute an average of two hours per month (or 24 hours over one year) to help out in a wide variety of ways. And -- WOW! -- help they did, as you'll see by the list of the individual Dreamer contributions at the end of this post. 2010 was a really great and productive year.

Last month, I asked every Dreamer whether they wished to continue supporting the Smooch! in 2011. The bar was being raised: Dream Team members were now being asked to provide four hours per month (or 48 hours over one year). The happy result: 11 Dreamers from 2010 agreed to continue their work in 2011.Three members asked to remain on the update list as "Honorary Dreamers," meaning they wanted to keep up-to-date on the behind-the-scenes Smooch! activities and would serve in an advisory capacity.

I am so amazed at the draw this project has on people! I asked the Dreamers what motivated them to support the project long term. Dreamer Karen Van Wert replied, "I believe that one person can change the world. The Smooch Project is one person's dream to make the world a better place and I want to be a part of that effort." Dreamer Soup (Sue) Daugherty said, "I believe that The Smooch! Project is the closest thing to world peace that I will see in my lifetime. Not that I wouldn't love world peace of course . . . But hey, I'm 54! The Smooch -- LOVE. COMMUNITY. HEALING. What's more important than that?" The Dream Team is a remarkable group of people. I am a very lucky photographer. Truly.

We're looking for new Dreamers for 2011. Do you have an interest in joining the team? The more people we have working on this effort, the sooner we accomplish the goal: Collecting 10,000 images of the affectionately-inclined from around the world. Your help would be so greatly appreciated. To indicate your interest, simply send an email to me at photogirl@thesmoochproject.com. I'll look forward to hearing from you!

In the meantime, check out the list of 2010 generous people who served on the Dream Team last year . . .

MUCHOS GRACIAS TO THE 2010 SMOOCH! PROJECT DREAM TEAM

Becky Pelant: Data entry
Betsy Altheimer: Development & fundraising coach
Glen Booth: Photoshop wizard
Joanne McGibbon: Promotion (Art-o-Mat entries)
Judith James: Fundraising, grantwriting, story editing
Karen Van Wert: Photo assistant, domestic Smooch! shoot development
Lee Wilcox: Facebook and market research
Linda Crawford: Editorial advisor, fundraising
Louisa Hext: Community Bridge Builder, International Smooch! shoot development
Patricia Danielson: Corporate sponsorship development
Randee Baron: Postcard collation, Smooch! shoot manager
Soup (Sue) Daugherty: Travel planning, event planning, fundraising
Suzanne Joyce: Facebook development, data management, research
Tamra Sharp: Office management, fundraising
Vanessa Wilson: Smooch! shoot manager, HR & business advisor