Full exposure

If someone had suggested to Marshfield's civic-minded ladies that they would bare all (more or less) in public, they would have probably been appalled at the thought.

It's amazing how compelling a good cause can be.

Baring Gifts, a seven-month old organization that will provide services for chronically ill Marshfield residents, will this week launch its major fund-raising effort: the sale of its 2006 calendar featuring seven of its 12 members naked.

Maddy Gray, 40, the group's founder, got the idea after watching the 2003 fact-based movie, ''Calendar Girls," in which British women publish a nude calendar to raise money for cancer treatment.

She said she watched the movie at a sensitive time after attending a neighbor's funeral and when two of her friends were ill with cancer. When the film ended, ''I said, 'We've got to do this,' " recalled Gray.

The next day, she talked it over with a friend while sharing coffee, and her mind was made up. ''After that coffee, I started making phone calls," Gray said.

Gray began recruiting anyone she could think of -- what other members affectionately call F.O.M., short for ''friends of Maddy" -- to recruit potential models and members. The only requirement was that they be over 40.

Among the willing? Her son's second-grade teacher. A full-time mother and active volunteer. A school nurse. In short, women visible and respected in the Marshfield community.

With enough people signed up, the organization began a seven-month flurry of activity. They did a community needs assessment, wrote bylaws, incorporated as a nonprofit, hired photographers, and set about the business of promoting their product.

''If there's a need, amazingly people will step up and say, 'Oh, I'm a graphic artist. Oh, I can make T-shirts,' " said Mary Kate Shea, 43, the group's co-treasurer.

Member Pam Andrada remembered her wedding photographer, Jack Foley of Hanover, from 14 years earlier, and the group asked him to participate. Foley, and later, Rhode Island-based photographer Betsy Van Oot, agreed to donate their services and shooting commenced.

''How many times in your life do you have the chance to do something that you can do freely?" said Foley.

Local businesses, like Marshfield Florist, Tiger Lily Consignment, and the Workout Club, offered to host the photo shoots.

Jean Worsh, 67, who is a retired second-grade teacher, worked with Foley at Marshfield Florist for her shot, later used prominently in Baring Gifts' publicity. It shows her wearing nothing, but holding strategically placed sunflowers.

''The photographer, he put me right at ease and, when it was over he gave me a big hug," she said.

She said she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. ''I've had a blast," Worsh said. ''I want my life to be an adventure, and it is."

If potential customers have visions of titillating photos of their Marshfield neighbors, they'll have to look elsewhere.

''We've tried to make this as nonsexual as possible," Gray said. ''They [the pictures] needed to be funny, they needed to show women at play, and [they needed to be] done discreetly."

They are. While there is nudity with women clamming, kayaking, and drawing in the buff, the images are more playful than explicit.

Far more important to members than the poses is the fund-raising that comes next.

Underlying their efforts is the belief that critical illness often brings unrecognized challenges to patients and their families, including difficulties with meal preparation, home maintenance, and child care. And instead of donating money to big, impersonal organizations, the group believes it can be most effective by keeping money in the community.

''I knew instinctively that we shouldn't send funds to [the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute]," said Gray. ''I just don't think you see tangible changes."

Baring Gifts will organize everyday services like lawn mowing, housecleaning, meal delivery, and haircutting for ill people. There's a cap of $500 per individual per year, although they've built in ways to make exceptions.

''We don't want to change the world, but we want to make someone happy on one particular day," said Shea.

The organization aims to raise at least $10,000 this year from calendars, which will be available this week at local stores for $15. To be successful, the organization needs local businesses to promote the calendar and provide future photo shoot locations.

The members look forward to years of calendars, and have entertained the idea of snagging their husbands for an all-male 2007. If the men aren't as brave as the women, that's fine too.

''Every single one of the photo shoots was a laughfest," said Gray. ''I think there's a lot to be said for 'If you didn't laugh, you'd be crying.' "