Dear Cape Ann Community,
Last week, Joey C. kindly posted information about my special art and charity event called, "You. Are. Beautiful. – A Tribute to Warriors." I’m hosting the event at Minglewood Tavern in Gloucester on Monday, July 8 at 6:30pm. This week, I’d like to share a little more information on who we are doing this for, and I hope you will attend.
This is a photo of CPL Todd Love, a Marine and triple amputee who served in Afghanistan with the 1st Recon out of California. He was injured on October 25, 2010 when he was the point man on a foot patrol and triggered an IED. He suffered the loss of both his legs above the knee and had severe damage to his left hand, resulting in amputation.
I reached out to Todd recently on facebook because I wanted to photograph him for my "You. Are. Beautiful." project – a celebration of the human spirit and beauty in all people. In this project, I photograph all different kinds of people, but I especially honor veterans because I feel what they do is one of the ultimate tests of the human mind, body and spirit.
Todd has an amazing spirit and does all kinds of things that will amaze you. He plays Bach on the piano with one hand, wrestles alligators, jumps out of airplanes, competes in X.T.R.E.M.E. sports competitions and much more. All with 1 limb and a crazy positive attitude. Todd loves the "You. Are. Beautiful." project, but as you can see, he’s pretty busy for this year, so unfortunately, I won’t be able to photograph him soon. But he was so kind even through our facebook communication, and I wanted to share his story.
Todd is 1 of over 9500 post 9/11 injured combat heroes helped by the Semper Fi Fund, a non-profit organization I am raising funds for through my art work and events. I chose Semper Fi Fund as my charity for this summer because some of the injured veterans I have talked to speak so highly of them. In my conversations directly with the Semper Fi Fund, I can only echo this sentiment. I feel they treat each of the injured veterans they help as if he or she is their own child.
At the event on Mon, July 8, I will be showing art work from five of the veterans I’ve photographed to-date, four of which are from Massachusetts. Each of them has connections to wounded warriors, either because they themselves are wounded or because they continue to help other veterans in so many different ways. I hope you will join me to say "thank you" and help me in reaching my goal of raising at least $2000 for the Semper Fi Fund through this special event.
If you cannot attend, you can still donate! For details and to buy tickets, please visit:
http://youarebeautiful.eventbrite.com/
Sincerely,
Thi Linh Wernau
Rockport, MA
facebook.com/ThiLinhPhotography
Good Morning Gloucester 
Simply amazing!
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