Love for Alyssa by jennifer kaczmarek
Jennifer Kaczmarek met Alyssa Hagstrom soon after her 5th birthday. The two were introduced through a previous project Jennifer was working on, Alyssa was her subject. Told by several people, “Wait ’till you met her.” As soon as they met, Jennifer knew what they were speaking about. For someone so young, she possessed an extraordinarily special spirit.
When the project was done, Jennifer felt compelled to do something more. She approached her father with the idea of allowing her to continue photographing Alyssa with the hope of raising money on her behalf. Duane Hagstrom was a single father raising two girls, and doing the best that he could. Alyssa is now 8, and Alexxis is 10 years of age. Duane is a teacher at Flagler High School in Palm Coast, FL. Having made a promise to her father that she would try her best to help, she felt she could not let them down. Over the course time, the ideas and connections began presenting themselves one after another. Taking a leap of faith and putting one foot in front of the other, Jennifer founded this organization.
Jennifer’s hope is that as Alyssa faces the many challenges ahead, this journey will help to keep Alyssa’s amazing spirit alive; a gift she may be able to pass on to others. A goal that we hope will do the same to those that follow. See more of Alyssa's story on our blog →