BATON ROUGE – A pay it forward project has reached a huge milestone. The Front Porch Project, which provides free family pictures during the pandemic in exchange for monetary donations to local businesses, has raised $1.2 million throughout the state.

“I personally was able to capture around 900 porches,” said Jenn Ocken, one of the 20-plus photographers in Baton Rouge who joined the project. "We all felt so fulfilled because not only did we now have a purpose during this time, but we were also giving the families a purpose by allowing them to give back to the community."

The project that started in March, has captured 4,000 families and pets in Louisiana. More than half were taken in the Greater Baton Rouge area.

With many families going back to work, the project has shifted. Business owners and their staff can now participate in what is being coined the Store Front Project.

"It helps businesses get some content so that they can start communicating to the public that they are open, and what safety standards they're holding,” said Ocken.

More than 300 businesses have already been captured and displayed on the project Facebook page. The success is proving just how powerful a picture can be.

“We have to be the stimulus for our own community. We can depend on the government for some point, but they have a lot of people to tend to. We have to take care of our own, and this is one way to do it. It's been beautiful,” said Ocken.