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In December, our end-of-year project was sending 2 filmmakers to St. Petersburg, Russia to create promotional videos and testimonials for Club Babochka, a camp for youth with disabilities.
Below is a thank you letter from the producer, Zachary Purcell.
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In late November my brother, Lewis, one of the directors of Club Babochka, asked my wife and I to consider coming to Russia this January to film several promotional videos for Babochka. While we were super excited to take on the challenge, the obstacles were daunting. I was afraid we’d make it to Russia but not have the funding, the team, or the editing time to really give the stories what they deserved—but God provided abundantly in each of these areas!
- The local Russian rental company offered us an amazing 60% discount on our film equipment
- Through my church I was able to find a filmmaking partner (with a valid passport ready to go!)
- With SRS’ financial partnership we surpassed our funding goal!
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Ryan, Zach, and Nikita in front of the camp theme poster.
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I am deeply grateful for the support I received from SRS. You can see in the chart above that almost two-thirds of my funding was supplied through your support!
With my initial budget of $6,500, my plan was to take a loss on the trip and only have time to edit one promo video shortly after returning home. The additional videos would have been edited over the next year and done on my own volunteer time. Now, with our final total being almost $9,550, I will be able to finish the videos within just a couple of months and give them the time and effort the stories deserve.
During our 12 day trip in Russia, my film partner Ryan and I were able to capture the 2 day winter camp, and interview 3 members of camp staff and 6 parents of campers, as well as film 4 in-depth interviews with campers. 3 of the 4 campers who have been led to Christ through Club Babochka's faithful efforts shared their testimonies during the interviews. Our hope is to use these edited final pieces to encourage the Babochka staff and volunteers, help raise money for Babochka, increase the number of volunteers (and through that, create opportunity for more campers to attend), and increase the emotional and spiritual support Babochka receives from around the world.
Thank you so much for your support and willingness to partner with me in this amazing ministry opportunity. I hope to be sending you all the completed videos in the coming months.
In Christ,
Zachary Purcell
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Having tea at the home of Varya, a longtime Babochka camper. We interviewed and filmed the day after camp ended.
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