The nature of charity

YOU'LL GET an opportunity this week to buy some great photographs and help two deserving local nonprofits at the same time.

Connect Savannah contributing photographer Jenn Blatty has organized an auction of her work from 6-8 p.m. this Friday at the Morris Center in Trustees Garden. Proceeds will benefit both the Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) and the Oatland Island Wildlife Center, which will have some live animals on hand. We spoke to Jenn last week about the event.

So Oatland Island is bringing some live animals to the auction. Whose idea was that?

Jenn Blatty: It was their idea. I asked them to bring someone down and talk about Oatland Island and where the money from the auction would be going. And they said they could bring some animals with them – the possum, maybe a falcon – so I said, cool! And we’ll have a table set up for them to help with that.

Why an auction for charity? And why these particular groups?

Jenn Blatty: I’ve always wanted to do an event for charity. In this process of actually searching for the charities, I decided I wanted to benefit someone local, for smaller groups where people can actually see the results of what they’re donating. When your money just goes to a national organization, it’s so impersonal. You don’t really see the results.

Did your decision to support Oatland have anything to do with the shots you took recently for our stories by Lanie Peterson?

Jenn Blatty: That’s basically how it happened. I was out there seeing the wolves and everything, and I was like, maybe I could donate to two groups instead of just one. Oatland was originally one of the groups on the list that I wanted to speak with, and at that point I’d only talked to CASA. I was like, why not Oatland, too? And they were really into it.

Tell us what we can expect at the event.

Jenn Blatty: Well, I’ve got the auctioneer, Matt Mattingly, who’s awesome. A little less than 15 of my bigger pieces will be live auctioned, and there’ll also be another 10-15 pieces for a silent auction. And there’ll be five or ten pieces for raffle.

There’s also going to be this new 2009 calendar I’ve been putting together. I’ve been working on it with Ink Branding. It’s different. It’s not your typical Savannah calendar – it’s more based on the islands. cs

Charity Auction for the Best of Friends

When: Fri., Sept. 19, 6-8 p.m.

Where: Charles H. Morris Center, Trustees Garden

Info: 912/224-7440, [email protected]