The Front Steps Project - Mount Airy Maryland
The Front Steps Project
I managed to get a quick shot of my family. 
I read an article about a Massachusetts photographer (IG: @carasoulia & @findingforty) doing front steps photos to raise money for charity and I thought it was a great idea! Then, a local photographer friend in AA County (@MeganEvansPhoto) started doing it in her community and I reached out to her for details. During one of my daily walks with my husband, I told him I wanted to do it in Mount Airy and he said, "Let's do it!" The purpose was to capture our life as it is now during this quarantine and to bring us together when we might feel isolated. It was a great way to highlight our community and to step up and help those who needed it most right now in Mount Airy.
Next thing you know, on March 22nd, I was reaching out to Mayor Rockinberg to see if he thought it was a good idea - which he did! Then I reached out to Mount Airy Net since I knew they were going to be needing some assistance in the next few months. For those of you that don't know, Mount Airy Net is located in Calvary United Methodist Church's basement. They serve the needs of people throughout the four county region surrounding Mount Airy. They provide emergency assistance such as food and prescriptions, etc. During the start of the pandemic, they were delivering food to those over 65 and accepting food donations around Mount Airy and while typically they serve about 100 people a month but during this pandemic, they have served over 55 people weekly.
I posted my Front Steps Project application on a Mount Airy group page on Facebook and got quite a lot of interest. I photographed families from March 23 - 29th and it was so fun to be able to go out with my husband and see families (and their pets) and to see how far Mount Airy stretches! I was able to accomplish this while keeping a safe 6+ distance from everyone. I had a response of over 80+ families but we did have to cut it short due to Governor Hogan's mandatory stay at home order.
Thank you so much to everyone who was interested and participated. I hope this brought something a little different to your lives during this uncertain time. It was a great way for me to meet so many people from Mount Airy and to see a lot of familiar faces.
If I came out and took your picture, I would love to hear about your experience. The originators of #TheFrontStepsProject want to feature other photographers on their blog and I would love to share YOUR STORY! What did it mean to you? How has this pandemic affected you? Are you still working on the front lines? I want to hear all about it. Please message me at [email protected] or post a comment on this blog. Thanks!
Overall, we ended raising $1,700 for Mount Airy Net. WAY TO GO MOUNT AIRY!
THANKS AGAIN!!!!
Stacey Markel Photography ~ 2020
#TheFrontStepsProject #StaceyMarkelPhotography
