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Steven John

People in NEED

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Boat project
The first issue of NEED Magazine featured photos from a boat-building project in Thailand led by the American Refugee Committee. Thousands of families lost their fishing boats and livelihoods in the 2004 tsunami.
Photo courtesy of NEED Magazine, Thomas Hommeyer and Linda Cullen

The Kinnunen's sold everything they owned, moved home, and started NEED Magazine in the suburban Twin Cities hotel room they called home.

The periodical aims to tell the stories of humanitarian organizations and the people those organizations serve around the world. This issue's cover states the mission plainly:

"We're not out to save the world, but to tell the stories of those who are."

The second issue of NEED Magazine is on newsstands now. The cover shows a boy caked with mud standing near makeshift shelters in a refugee camp in Uganda. He holds a motorcycle tire above his head like a halo against a pure blue sky.

His expression is strangely confident, given his desperate surroundings. It's the first of over a hundred full-color, remarkably artistic photos that are the signature of this upstart, Minneapolis-based magazine.

Kelly and Stephanie Kinnunen spoke with MPR's Steven John earlier this week about their efforts.

Gallery
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Boat project
The first issue of NEED Magazine featured photos from a boat-building project in Thailand led by the American Refugee Committee. Thousands of families lost their fishing boats and livelihoods in the 2004 tsunami. Like NEED Magazine, the American Refugee Committee is based in Minneapolis.
Photo courtesy of NEED Magazine, Thomas Hommeyer and Linda Cullen
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Boat project
The first issue of NEED Magazine featured photos from a boat-building project in Thailand led by the American Refugee Committee. Thousands of families lost their fishing boats and livelihoods in the 2004 tsunami.
Photo courtesy of NEED Magazine, Thomas Hommeyer and Linda Cullen
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NEED Magazine photos
The signature of NEED Magazine is the photos. More than 100 full-color, artistic photos are in the current issue of the publication.
Photo courtesy of NEED Magazine and Thomas Lee