The day before Thanksgiving, Duncan rolled up to McLaughlin Middle School with the CLiF mobile chock full of books.   CLiF specifically came to visit the ELL students – or English Language Learners – at this school in Manchester, NH.   Almost all of these ELL students are New Americans, whose families have recently relocated to Manchester from all over the world.  As they work to learn English and assimilate into American life, CLiF gives them a boost by providing new books and encouragement in the form of Duncan’s enthusiastic presentation.

CLiF is always on the hunt for talented photographers to take pictures at our events, so we were thrilled when Manchester-based wedding photographer Marina Zinovyeva agreed to shoot for us.  Marina especially understands what these students feel as New Americans, as she moved to New Hampshire from Russia as a young woman.  The CLiF event struck a chord with her.  “Being an immigrant, I can imagine that their families might not have extra money to spend on books,” Marina said.   “But they wish nothing more but their kids to be educated so they can have a better future.  It was an amazing opportunity for me to do something for these kids as well.”

Marina began taking pictures when she moved to the states to au pair for an American family.  She honed her skill by taking pictures of the child in her stead, eventually winning a photo contest with him as the subject.  Marina then decided to embrace photography as a career.

This was Marina’s first event with CLiF, and she found herself mesmerized by the storytelling.  She said, “The whole event was so engaging and fun that I forgot for a minute myself that I was there to take a pictures!  The kids looked so involved and were so excited when they could finally pick books for themselves.”

Thanks to Marina’s talent, we have a bunch of wonderful pictures we can use on our website and marketing materials.  Thank you again Marina!  For more of Marina’s work, check out her website: www.marinaz.com.