2011 Runway Red Celebrity Kids Fashion Show - Presented by Show Me the Way Foundation, Dream Kids Hair Care & Macy's

www.showmethewayfoundation.org

RUNWAY RED is a charity fashion gala featuring pint–size socialites and their well-known celebrity parents. As part of a fundraising program called CAMPAIGNRED, SMTWF transformed “making a difference” into a family affair by adding RUNWAY RED to create exposure and raise funding for children infected by or affected withHIV/AIDS.

On April 14th, I experienced one of the most amazing events and fashion shows I have ever seen ... the 2011 Runway Red Celebrity Kids Fashion Show. Runway Red was held at the amazing Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, GA and it was nothing short of a magical night! The benefit was for an amzing cause, raising awareness and donations for children who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. 

Many of my friends and supports know that Children with HIV has been one of my main causes to raise awareness and donation for over the last 12 months. Naturally when I heard about Tashawnya Menefee, Show Me the Way Foundation and thier efforts to help kids with project Runway Red I was so excited to be even a small part of the event. 

I found myself surround by celebrities like Jermaine Dupri, Chilli, Q, Cee Lo, Demetria McKinney and many other influential, corporate, civic, business leaders for an amazing evening for a wonderful cause. 

My cheeks where sore at the end of the night after smiling so hard all evening. The children in the fashion show where some of the most talented and beautiful children I have ever seen, but I guess that's what happens when you come from celebrity parents, you get it honest... the children where Fantastic!

Tashawnya Menefee & Show Me the Way Foundation Members

One of the great Photographers of the evening Mr. Paul Biagui

www.paulbiaguiphotography.com

Dream Kids Hair Care, in conjunction with Macy's, announced The Runway Red "Wonderland Kids" Fashion Show which benefited the Show Me The Way Foundation. The third annual charity fashion gala featured pint -size socialites, mini-me movers and their well-known celebrity parents.

 One of my favorite models, she was fantastic on the catwalk!

 Celebrity kids having a blast

Show Me the Way Foundation (SMTWF) is a non-profit organization that provides mentoring and positive group activities for youth infected/affected by HIV/AIDS and other terminal health issues. Their goal is to instill confidence, perseverance, leadership, and practical knowledge by uplifting spirits and providing positive guidance and advice to the youth served by our foundation.

Tashawnya Menefee is one of the most inspiring women!

 Her mission is uniquely geared towards serving disadvantaged youth in Metropolitan Atlanta. It was such an honor to meet her and be apart of her project. Tee's Show me The Way Foundation programs are designed to uplift troubled children/teens: who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses, growing up in homes of parents with HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses. By providing charity services such as Tutoring, Mentorship, Character-Development, Abstinence and HIV/AIDS Education, Show Me The Way Foundation encourages youth participants to fulfill their dreams and provides conscience raising activities that help them do just that.

Atlanta's own Mr. Mark Hayes was the Main Host for the Evening

Mr. & Mrs. Jamie Dukes Kicked off the Event

Their awesome daughter Joy was also in the Fashion Show!

One of my favorite little girls from the evening, she was so sweet and beautiful!

The fashion show and entertainment was simply amazing. The Fernbank could not have been a better venue for their Alice in Wonderland opener.  

Without a doubt some of the most amazing entertainers I have ever seen....  I ran into a young lady named Miss Gabbie Rae, a local Atlanta Recording Artist at the ripe old age of 10 years old. To hear Gabbie sing tottaly blew me away, she has the voice of an Aretha Franklin in that small frame of hers. I found out latter that Gabbie is no hidden secret, she has been on many national programs including the daytime talk show The Tyra Banks Show, as one of "The Most Talented Kids in the Country" (under the age of 10).

Learn more about this amazing young lady at www.gabbierae.com

The model I voted "VIP" - She was amazing on the runway!

My other Favorite models!

Photos from the Catwalk:

The OMG Booth was in the house... it was so much fun!

  

Huge Thanks to the Main Sponsor of the event!

Miss United States 2010 Game Day Host for FOX Televised WNBA Atlanta Dream Game to raise money for The National Leader Dog Foundation!

"Let's Hear it for Leader Dog!"

“We Serve” is our motto, who are we? Millions of men and women all over the world, who proudly make up The Lions Club International. For me, I believe our magic is how we work together to answer our communities most challenging problems, we are proud members that go out everyday and strive to not only be strong business professional, but we also strive to give 100% back to our communities.

For the first time ever The Georgia Lions Club did something no other club or civic organization in Georgia had ever done, they partnered with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream team on June 26th, 2011 game at Phillips Arena. 

I was so excited to be the Host, as a proud Atlanta Lions member myself. The Lions had the great opportunity to represent the Lighthouse Foundation, as well as raise awareness and donations for The Lead Dog Foundation at the June 26^th Basketball Arena game. 

The event was amazing, standing in the tunnel walking out to the court you could hear the Atlanta Dream fans roaring with excitement. The current lions president, David Proulx and a past Lions presentient, Scott Rogers accompanied me out onto the arena floor with large donation checks from our sponsors! To see the Atlanta Lions team up with The National Leader Dog Foundation raise donations for thousands of visually impaired people all across the United States was an absolute rush. 

Let me quickly to tell you a little about the Leader Dog Foundation - Founded by three Detroit area Lions Clubs members in 1939, Leader Dogs for the Blind provides guide dogs to people who are blind and visually impaired to enhance their mobility, independence and quality of life. This is a life-changing event that opens the door to independence, safety and self-worth for many of individuals. Lots of children also benefit from this program.

I was so excited to see my Company Premier Logic sponsor this amazing event and cause. Here is the Dream Mascot presenting the Premier Logic check on the court:

Let me leave you with a quick story..... A young woman at 26 with two small children at home (2 & 4) learns that in 6 months she will be 100% blind due to a irreversible corneal disease. There is no cure. This young woman is not only a mother of two young kids, but she is also a school teacher, a teacher responsible for many of our bright minds of the future. This young woman was stricken with fear when faced with this rapidly approaching reality and reached out for help, The Leader Dog foundation was her answer.

Flash forward three years latter and the teacher is walked into her school gym by her guide dog with all 1,200 students of the school in attendance. To her surprise the First Lady of the United States is live by teleconference. She was awarded The Congressional Teachers Award of the year. Tears filled the room; there was not a dry eye. This young woman that once feared becoming non-mobile, not only continued to be an amazing mom to her children who needed her, an amazing wife to her husband, but she was able to continue to be an amazing teacher! She was able to help inspire thousands of young children through her teaching and her story. Without The Leader Dog program this young woman essence and the thousand of life’s she touched might have been lost!

This is one of thousand of stories that the Leader dog foundation has to share. 

Our end result

Atlanta Dream game and Leader Dog's for the Blind fund raiser - including the donation checks that we received, raised over $4000.00 for Leader Dog's!! This is significant and is the largest contribution to Leader Dogs for the Blind from the Atlanta Lions Club in decade!

The Atlanta Lions made a huge impression on the Atlanta Community, doing what Lions do best...serving! I am proud to be an Atlanta Lion!

The event would have never been possible without the brainchild and main project lead, Pam Schlomer of Schlomer Business Services. She is a hard working small business owner and also a proud Atlanta Lion, who took on the huge challenge of putting this event together! 

Learn more about Pam and her company at 

http://www.schloemerbusiness.com

Some of the other great sponsor who donated to the event!

Learn more about Leader Dog Foundation

www.leaderdog.org 

Learn more about Atlanta Lions

 atlantalions.org

Miss United States 2010, Jessica Black speaks at the monthly Atlanta Jaycees. An inspiring story of daring to dream and the importance of giving.

A Blog Post by Mr. Andrew Kimball in his blog - "Freewheelin' Lifestyle". He is an amazing person and writer ..... ENJOY!

http://www.freewheelinlifestyle.com/the-power-of-words-and-a-date-with-miss-united-states/

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“The Power of Words” and a date with Miss United States

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Andrew

Wow what an awesome event this week with the Atlanta Jaycees.  It was a huge turnout at Park Tavern with LOTS of new faces, several new members, and of course, a special appearance by none other than Miss United States, Jessica Black.

Before I get into Jessica’s presentation (and her captivating theme: “The Power of Words”), I should point out a little about what the Jaycees are all about.  Not only is it a great place to network and connect with other young entrepreneurs, this group is all about giving back to the community.  This is especially evident in their event schedule this coming month:

“Hero for a Day” – July 16th – Georgia’s largest field day event for children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.

“Cocktails for Kidneys” – July 21st – Young Professionals fundraiser benefitting Camp Independence, a six day overnight camp for medically fragile children and adolescents with kidney disease or who have heart, liver, lung, or kidney transplants.

Their commitment to charities and giving back is just one reason why it’s my #1 favorite young professionals group in Atlanta.  It’s awesome, you should seriously check it out.

Ok so back to my date with Miss United States (haha ok not really, but I did have a great conversation with her afterwards, she’s super cool, more on that in a minute).

Now you may be thinking, “Oh geez, another beauty queen, probably with an entourage, PR staff, people telling her what to do and how to act (remember Kramer on that Seinfeld episode?  Classic), just like all the others…right?” Not exactly.  I mean, I’m not a big fan of beauty pageants (sure I’ll watch for a few minutes, you know for the talent show part haha), and beauty queens in general.  I don’t pay attention to this stuff.  That’s what made this Jaycees event so interesting.  Jessica is the real deal, here’s why…

Her “off the cuff” speech (she talked non-stop with no script for like 30 minutes and it was all good stuff) was centered around this video (only 9 million some views!):

Knowing “The Power of Words” and combining that with her life motto ”Dare to Dream take the Journey”, Jessica has had some amazing success already, both personally and professionally.  She’s sold for IBM, modeled for top dress designers, and helped raise tons of money for local and national charities.  Cool huh?

Totally.  What’s really cool though, is when you talk with her, you realize that she’s super down to earth, genuine, authentic, and pretty much the complete opposite of the stereo-typical blonde bombshell beauty queen. (lol)

"The Power of Words" - Miss United States 2010, Jessica Black

What I admire most about her is that not only is shededicated to giving back and helping others, but she has clearly found her purpose in life and is truly living a life in line with that purpose. It’s cool to see.  I encourage you to learn more about Jessica and the many charities she’s a part of.

"Japan Rises" by Project MF Raised $42K in ONE NIGHT - The reigning Miss United States, Jessica Black was proud to be a Celebrity Host!

 "Japan Rises" by Project MF Raised $42K in ONE NIGHT! Miss United States 2010 Jessica Black was proud to be a Celebrity Host! 

This amazing event was for a great cause held at MF Buckhead Sushi Restaurant. Alex Kinjo owner of MF Buckhead, was over joyed with the results!

http://www.mfbuckhead.com/charity/index.html

Background for event:

On March 11, 2011, one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history hit the east coast of Honshu, Japan, triggering an extremely destructive tsunami minutes later. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their homes, nearly 10,000 are confirmed dead, and over 16,000 Japanese people are unaccounted for. During this very difficult time, the people of Japan are in our thoughts and prayers. Our charity fundraiser, "Project MF: Japan Rises", is an initiative of a relief effort, with our partner Habitat for Humanity Japan, to raise funds for Japan will be held on Wednesday, April, 2011 at MF Buckhead from 6:30 pm to 11:00 pm. In the short-term, Habitat for Humanity Japan is mobilizing its pool of local volunteers and recruiting others to support the Japanese government's initial clean-up and relief operation, which will start in earnest after the search and rescue operations have finished. Longer-term, Habitat for Humanity will continue to provide volunteer support to rebuild the disaster-stricken areas of the country. Habitat for Humanity International will also assist Habitat for Humanity Japan in rebuilding its own capacity to serve families in need of shelter within the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Habitat for Humanity is not just here in the US it's across the world. If you are a Habitat volunteer there are ways you can get involved to help Japan Relief!

One of my favorite photos used for donations:

Host committee members:

• Mary and Jay Williams
• Diane and Kent Alexander
• Liz and David Bruce
• Brian Martin
• Doddy and TJ Ward
• Tim Hobby and Rob Moore
• Gail O'Neill
• Karen and Jim York

 Hosted by Mark McKay, CNN Anchor & Reporter:

Owner MF Buckhead, Alex Kinjo (left) with Miss United States

Project MF: Japanese Rises Charity Fundraiser
MF Buckhead, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Japan, hosts a fundraiser event to help the earthquake and tsunami
victims of Japan.

http://www.mfbuckhead.com/
http://www.chuckyfoto.com/
http://www.armadamagazine.com/

Super Models always make me look short ha ha - but I love them!

http://www.chuckyfoto.com

http://www.chuckyfoto.com

http://www.chuckyfoto.com

I've been blessed to travel all over the US this year and participate in over 200+ charity events - the "Japan Rises" Project MF was one of my absolute favorites! It was a chance to give back to thousands of people in Japan who need the world's help for a long time to come. 


Don't stop giving now... you can still donate $10 dollars to the Japan Relief by texting 90999 on your cell phone, the donations go to the National Red Cross.


A huge thanks to Alex and the Crew at MF Buckhead for allowing me to be apart of such an amazing event! If more business owners stepped up to the challenge and hosted events like "Japan Rises", the effect would be absolutely amazing for charities all across the nation!


Thanks Alex & MF Buckhead - you guys Rock! Much Love - Miss United States 2010, Jessica Black