Fashions With Flair Raises Funds for The Children’s Home, Shriners’ Hospitals

On Saturday (Sept. 17), the Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) held its ninth annual Fashion Show at the . Proceeds from the fashion show benefitted the Children’s Home and Shriners’ Hospitals and Winter Wonderland.

Among the 272 guests were 14 guest celebrity models, including: 

• Margaret Word Burnside – executive editor of Tampa Bay Magazine;

• Cat Coats – wife of Sheriff and board member of the Boys and Girls Club of the Suncoast; Linda and Julie Rice – wife and daughter of former Pinellas County Sheriff Everett Rice; Lydia Pizarro – Tampa PD Crime Prevention Program; Kelly Lightbourn – motivational speaker; Susan Valdes – Hillsborough County School Board member: Lauralee Westine – attorney and wife of Chief Deputy and General Counsel of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office

• Ambria’s of St. Petersburg, designer John William Barger III, and Solei Boutique and Island Fashions provided the fashions for the ladies.  Stylists from Charmaine’s on Clearwater Beach donated their time to style the model’s hair.

A large silent auction, with items ranging from a Chihuahua puppy to a pool table to home-made cookies, helped bolster the proceeds. $21,000 was raised in all.

After an invocation by Imam Wilmore Sadiki, Sheriff Coats addressed the attendees about his commitment to children, which is why he supports the Clearwater Community Volunteers in its efforts to improve the lives of children in the Tampa Bay area. Representatives from the Shriners’ Hospitals and the Childrens’ Home were also in attendance.

Mistress of Ceremonies and President of CCV Pam Ryan Anderson acknowledged all of the volunteers who helped make the show happen, saying “This hard-working, fun-loving group literally works year round to give back to the community, with events that benefit children.”

Anderson summed up the spirit of both attendees and the volunteers by quoting Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, “When children become unimportant to a society, that society has forfeited its future.”

Anderson also thanked all of the models, including:

Joy Gendusa – CEO of Postcardmania; Pat Harney – Public Affairs Director for the Church of Scientology; Pilar Ortiz – owner of Pilar Ortiz Enterprises; Lorena Rivas Hardwick – Legislative Aide to Tampa City Councilman Mike Suarez;

Carol Ann Roberts – a National Officer for the Ladies Oriental Shrine of North America, Inc. and Bahiyyah Sadiki – wife of Imam Wilmore Sadiki and school teacher at Gibbs High School.  

CCV was founded in 1993 by parishioners of the Church of Scientology and sponsors charitable events such as Winter Wonderland and an annual Easter Egg Hunt, both of which are open to all members of the community. For more information about CCV, please go to their website, www.clearwatercommunityvolunteers.org.

The Children’s Home is a non-profit organization serving Central Florida’s struggling families and children seeking the comfort of a loving family. The Children’s Home, with roots back to 1892, has helped more than 6,000 children realize their dream of a family, and has cared for more than 25,000 children in the community through their nationally recognized residential treatment program and their Family Support and Resource Centers.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 non-profit hospitals across North America. Children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay.

See video of Fashion Show here.