The Olivia Act inspires local photographers to give free photo shoots | Children

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – With the recent events in Connecticut, communities around the country and world are trying to honor the victims and Wilmington is no different.

You may have already heard of The Olivia Act, which was created and named after one of the children killed in Newtown.

A photographer, who wishes to be anonymous, came up with the idea.

According to reports, Olivia’s family had family pictures taken a short time before she was killed. Those pictures are now priceless as they are the last memory the family has of her.

The unknown photographer heard about Olivia’s story and was moved to give away a free 30 minute family photo shoot to another family in honor of Olivia.

Consequently, it has challenged other photographers to do the same, including Meg Slater of Wilmington.

Once she heard about the movement in honor of Olivia, she knew she wanted to do the same and help out like hundreds of other photographers are doing around the country.

“We go about our daily lives, and sometimes, we don’t take the time or have the resources to have family photos taken,” said Slater.

Slater said that she will be taking nominations for a local families in the upcoming days. According to Slater, the sessions will take place sometime in 2013 and will be free to the family.

Slater plans to do one mini-session in honor of every victim who lost their life in the shooting.

If you know of a deserving family that would appreciate this gift of memories, you are asked to contact her.

Nominations should be emailed to Slate and have a subject titled "Olivia Act." All nominations should include a brief message on which family you're nominating and the reason why they deserve it.

The families chosen will be contacted via email, so please include their email address as well.

Nominations will be accepted Dec. 19 through Dec.31.

You can email nominations to BeachinSlaters@gmail.com or go to Ohana Design Co. on Facebook for more information.

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