PictureHealing? Music Saves Lives? What's that?

So, I got a pretty cool email last week from a guy named Chris. He saw a picture of me on my blog and wanted to know if he could use it. The picture? It's one I posted a while back of me donating blood. That hot guy in the background is my husband, he donates too.

We donate every single time we can. Do you know why? All because of this little girl.

With all of Ava's 7 surgeries, she's had quite a few blood transfusions. This pic was taken during her blood transfusion (see the red tube in the middle of the pic?) from her last emergency surgery in August 2011.

It's not my favorite thing to do, I'll admit. I have a slight phobia about needles (yes, the tattooed, pierced chick hates needles). 

Did you know that one pint of blood can save three lives?  

Did you know that someone needs blood every 2 seconds?

Did you know that there is no substitute for human blood?

So, why did Chris want my super awesome pic? 

"I was hoping you'd allow us to use in a short video we're doing for a charity partner of ours called Music Saves Lives and the Vans Warped Tour. The picture would display for a few seconds and we'll give your blog address and credit on the screen as well."

Ummm, heck yeah you can! I was familiar with the Vans Warped Tour, and had heard of Music Saves Lives, but couldn't tell you exactly what they are. Well, now I know. 

"Music Saves Lives started its mission to education about the importance of blood donation and the bone marrow registry, sharing facts, educating and empowering youth. Music Saves Lives encourages participation, and commitment to action in a life saving way. These simple commitments, like donating blood, running a blood drive, and registering for the marrow program to save those with leukemia and other blood disorders, all connect back to strengthening the community."

So, Chris works for a company called PictureHealing. (Now, I did not know until I did research for this post that Chris is the Executive Director of PictureHealing. Yowzas). Now, I'm a huge fan of Instagram, but I only like a couple of their filters, so all of my pictures end up looking the same. So, any photo filter program (that's FREE) is worth checking out to me. 

It was super easy to find. Just went to my app store on my iPhone, searched for PictureHealing, and voila. 

Did I read that right? By using and sharing my photos, I'm helping out my favorite charities?  

"By taking and sharing the pictures, you’ll earn points, and those points are how we decipher how much of our revenues go to your chosen three charities. We’ve partnered with some really amazing orgs like Music Saves Lives, Smile Train, Keep-A-Breast, The Fender Music Foundation, and Casa Pacifica. We’re up to about 50 so far. Most of which spread the gamut of interests so that you’ll be able to identify with a few!"

Okay, that in itself is awesome. But not only that, I love having some new filters to play with. To show you, I just snapped a quick shot of some fruit on my counter. The first button shows you the different photo filters you can chose from. Brighten the photo, change it to black and white, etc. 
 

The second button is the level of distressing and texture that you want, if any. 

And the third button is my favorite. It's the different frames you can pick. I use these two the most. 

Now, not only did I have a "feel good" moment that my simple act of donating blood was going to encourage others, Chris (Hi Chris!) offered to give me two tickets to the Vans Warped Tour as a thank you. Now, me being pregnant, in Texas, with the concert outdoors in July, is selfishly giving my tickets to my husband and his music loving friend. You're welcome, Jake and Dwayne. :)