Brookings photographer donates profits to Feed the Children

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - A young man from Brookings is using his talents to give back. His mission, to fight hunger through a program he calls “Portraits for a Purpose.”

Hossam Halaweish says Portraits for a Purpose is a service in which he provides a photo shoot, and then donates the proceeds to “Feed the Children,” a non-profit focused on alleviating childhood hunger.

”For someone that has to feed three, four children and themselves, and maybe hasn’t had a good meal in a week, that’s detrimental, that’s really hard,” Halaweish said. “So, I decided to donate to Feed the Children because during this pandemic they are really doing a great job distributing the money, the food, the resources, the supplies to people that really need it.”

Currently enrolled as a Biology Major at the University of Minnesota, when classes went fully online this past spring, Hossam came back home to Brookings. However, he had a lot of extra time on his hands.

So, he thought maybe he could make some money while doing something he enjoys.

“I’ve always been in photography,” Halaweish said. “I took classes in high school, I take classes at the university currently, and I realized that I have some sort of skill here, and maybe I can benefit from this.”

Only charging a fraction of a professional photographer, Hossam quickly set aside the desire for profits and decided to donate the money to a cause he is passionate about.

”When I realized $50 isn’t going to change my life dramatically, I realized I don’t need this, and millions of other people do,” Halaweish said.

Already raising over $1500, Hossam hopes to use Portraits for a Purpose to inspire others.

“At the end of the day, it can’t be just me or any other guy or any other girl, it really has to be us as a community.”

If you’d like to set up a photo shoot with Hossam or learn more about Portraits for a purpose, you can visit portraitsforapurpose.org or search Portraits for a Purpose on Facebook.

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