The Healing Our Roots fashion show at the Vallejo Community Center benefited the victims of a series of three deadly typhoons in the Philippines this fall.
Flooding and landslides caused by the storms in September and October killed nearly 1,000 people and caused more than $4 billion in damage, said Belle Santos, adviser for the Filipino Youth Coalition who presented a slide show depicting the devastation.
"Two million families, 10 million people, were victims of flooding or landslides," she said. "A recovery effort is now under way."
The group that produced Saturday's show, spearheaded by fashion student Brittanie Calilan, 21, of Vallejo, expected to raise about $5,000 and has already collected "canned food, lots of toys and boxes of clothing," Calilan said.
About 160 or so people attended the event, which included live music and several artists and other vendors.
"We hope to help the families (in the Philippines). They need medicine, food, their homes need repair. Their communities need rehabilitation. There are still areas to this day that are submerged," said Lilibeth Asera of Vallejo, a member of the Filipino Community of Solano County, which sponsored the event.
Santos said she was impressed by the outpouring of aid from around the world in the face of the disaster, and that she's
especially moved by the desire of local young people to get involved."Some of them have never even been to the Philippines, but they still feel a connection," Santos said. "The response, especially in Vallejo, has been amazing."
Calilan, who is studying at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Sacramento, said she put the show together to merge her passion for fashion with her aspiration to assist.
"I wanted to combine a relief effort with a fashion show to help other people," she said.
This was the first such program Calilan has produced, and it was more than she thought it would be, she said.
"It was more stressful and more rewarding than I expected," she said.
Saturday night's fashion show was the fourth of five events meant to raise funds and awareness of the disaster that struck the Philippines in recent months, said Norma Placido, president of the Filipino Community of Solano County and chairperson of the Philippines Disaster Relief Fund.
The next, last and biggest event is a dinner/dance being planned for Jan. 23, Placido said.
Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or rzrihen@timesheraldonline.com.