12-20-2022 4:03am

Allison Kelly's Love of Nature Helps Children Around the World

Lesley Misko Editor

Boyertown, like many small towns across America, has encouraged shoppers to help support relatives, friends, and neighbors by “shopping local.”

Patrons of area stores usually find specialized products and personalized customer service. Their purchases help businesses to succeed and that helps the town to prosper.

But amid the focus on “shop local,” internet businesses owned and operated by local folks are often forgotten because they lack a visible storefront.

“Noteworthy Nature Photos by Allison,” is one such local business and it is indeed “noteworthy” for several reasons.

Allison shares, “I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when I was two years old. Despite my severe physical limitations, I have always enjoyed the outdoors. Growing up on a family Christmas tree farm—I could literally go over the river (creek) and through the woods to my grandmother’s house —instilled a love of nature in me at an early age.”

Allison’s concept is simple: she takes photos of nature scenes and animals and makes them into photo cards that she sells online. The cards are noteworthy because they are lovely, but the circumstances surrounding their creation and the way in which Allison uses the proceeds from her sales, makes them even more unique.

A 1988 graduate of Boyertown Area Senior High, Allison took a break between high school and college to have both of her hips and both of her knees replaced, as well as surgery on both of her feet. She recovered sufficiently to attend and graduate from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD four years later with a major in English and Creative Writing, and she was awarded Loyola’s coveted Writing Medal.

Following graduation, Allison returned home and worked for The Boyertown Times for several years before leaving to work for her brother Brian at Specht Reality. In 1998, she helped Brian open Kelly Real Estate and she continues to work for him “very parttime from home as his real estate marketing coordinator.” As she has struggled with chronic health issues over the years, the number of hours she has been able to work has decreased to “only a few hours a week.”

Though a lifelong nature lover, Allison’s mobility was severely restricted by illness and so spending time exploring the outdoors was a big challenge for her. But the acquisition of a mobility scooter and the development of “rail trails” provided the means by which Allison could spend time interacting with nature once again. “As an adult I’ve learned that nature has its own story to tell, a story I like to read and relate through the lens of my camera,” Allison explains.

Reminiscing, Allison says that she “started Noteworthy Nature Photos by Allison in 2019 after many people on Facebook complimented my nature photos.” She continues, “I decided to start making cards and using any money I made after expenses, to help pay for sponsoring children all around the world.”

Since 2000, Allison has been a sponsor for Nastya and Katya, sisters in an orphanage in Kazakhstan; Swati, a 12-year-old in India; Kismart, an 11 -year-old in Uganda, for whom Allison pays school fees; Yesica and Jasmin, sisters in Guatemala; Alba, a 14-year-old in Honduras; Hanh, an 11-year-old in Vietnam … among others! Her sponsorships have been arranged through organizations like the Antares Foundation, Auntie’s Angels, Fundamaya, ChildFund, and Children International.

The children she sponsors face many challenges and life for them is unpredictable. A 13- year-old girl, who Allison sponsored in India, “died abruptly of a brain aneurysm when she was unable to get medical attention quickly because of hospital conditions due to COVID-19.”

Allison hopes that her contributions and the children’s knowledge that someone cares about them, helps make their lives a little easier. “I love that I can write letters and send photos to most of the kids I sponsor, and they write back! I love being able to ‘have’ children in this way,” Allison shares. But she is concerned about her ability to continue these sponsorships because the cost continues to rise. Kelly cites one organization that used to collect $18/month and is now seeking $39 to sponsor a child.

Allison has struggled to get her photo cards in front of shoppers. She would like to sell at craft shows throughout the year but says, “My disability makes it very hard for me to go anywhere and I cannot sit up for several hours at a time.” Finding sales on websites like Etsy to be disappointing, she has succeeded in getting three Boyertown-area stores to sell her cards.

Additionally, Allison has created her own website, where visitors can purchase her cards, see some of her special card related services, and even see some of the children that she sponsors.

Allison hopes that shoppers looking for gifts or for notecards for personal use will seek out her website and share her love of nature and desire to help struggling children across the globe.