"... God loves a cheerful giver." - II Corinthians 9:7
Michael Tomshack could be the poster person for "cheerful giving."
The 56-year-old Morgan Stanley employee has turned his photography hobby into a thriving money-making and promotional tool for Chattanooga charities.
His face lights up as he explains the ways his trusty Nikons help him fill a volunteer role for Chattanooga-area causes.
» There's the annual calendar for Bethel Bible Village.
Mark Kennedy» The walk for the Hydrocephalus Association
» The portraits for homeless folks at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen
» The photos of the Heart Strings for Hope concert benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
» The fall festival portraits at Boyd-Buchanan School
And those are just a few of the formal events he photographs each year. Over time, Tomshack also has donated scores of landscape photographs with the stipulation that the recipient make a donation to a charity of his or her choice.
How did all this start?
"I was terrible at golf," explains Tomshack, who says he went off in
search of a new hobby and settled on photography. "On a great day I might score 82."
He is self-taught at photography - he takes online courses - and often learns through outings with the Chattanooga Photography Society. He is a past president.
Tomshack figures he spends about 40 hours a month on his hobby-slash-philanthropy. That's in addition to the 60-hour weeks he spends on his job at Morgan Stanley on Broad Street. In the office by 5 a.m. and out by 5 p.m. on his day job, Tomshack occupies his nights and weekends snapping photos for charity or taking landscape photos.
He says it works out great because his wife Kim, an avid football and hockey fan, would just as soon have him out of the house on weekends so she can enjoy watching her games in peace.
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Tomshack's downtown office is decorated with his work: a mesmerizing photo of the Mormon Row Barn in Jackson, Wyo.; a sun-splashed image of Balanced Rock in Mohab, Utah; a vista of Grand Teton National Park. There's even a documentary photo of his encounter with a bear in Yellowstone.
Of all of his charity work, the holiday portraits he takes at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen on East 11th Street might be his most rewarding work.
Part of an international effort called the Help Portrait Project, the photos are designed to give the homeless access to photographs they can use for job-finding or just as personal heirlooms - a middle-class tradition that doesn't often trickle down to poor folks.
"They allow me in for a few minutes to be part of their world," says Tomshack, who notes he often gets hailed by some of his Community Kitchen acquaintances when he walks on the streets in downtown Chattanooga. "For some of the homeless, it's the first time they've had a photograph of themselves" and or their families, he says.
"There are a lot of other photographers who are better than I am," Tomshack says. "But God gave me this talent, that allows me to give back from the heart."
It strikes us that if more people would use their hobbies for the common good, then doing good would be a lot more common.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.