KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Austin-East High School will host a fashion show Thursday and Saturday nights to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

The show is on Thursday, January 21 and Saturday, January 23 at 7:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Auditorium. The school is at 2800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.

The cost of admission is $5.00.

Administrators said this is a student-led initiative.

Austin-East will donate some of the proceeds from the show to the Red Cross to benefit relief in Haiti.

Those who attend the fashion show are also asked to bring bottled water and medical supplies. The school will put out collection bins for these items.

Cost to attend the event is $30 per person or $220 for a table of eight.

Bethany Place is the largest nonprofit AIDS service organization in the metro east. The organization provide comprehensive care management, programming and wellness promotion focused for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. The organization serves individuals in: Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Fayette, Jefferson, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Monroe, and St. Clair counties.

For more information about the event or to order tickets, call Bethany Place at 234-0291 or visit www.bethanyplace.org.

REMO ZACCAGNA – It's your Business

Posted 5 hours ago

A fledgling local group that brings businesswomen together is partnering with Edmonton Fashion Week to host a fundraising fashion show this week in the hopes of raising enough money to kick-start a scholarship fund.

The Hot Heels Fashion That Works show will take place Friday night at Rock City and will bring Canadian designers Laura Dreger and Kelsey McIntyre to the city.

The Grande Prairie chapter of Executive Women International (EWI), a U.S.-based organization that helps women in business connect with each other, network, and with professional development, was started in September by Jennifer Metituk.

With 31 member firms and 34 representatives, the charter chapter is among the fastest growing in the country, and now Metituk says it's time to begin raising a pool of money to benefit local women.

"We're just trying to provide opportunities for women to connect and support each other and grow the network of women in this community, so that's really what EWI is all about and we think the fashion show is a really great way to start that off for the year," she said.

EWI has a $25,000 scholarship fund, but a local chapter can also supplement that with money of its own, Metituk said.

"What the scholarship does is that there's a larger scholarship pool through EWI, and locally we have to find recipients for being submitted into the international scholarship," Metituk explained.

"And we would like to be able give away a little bit of money at the local level as well like the other chapters do."

The money will be divvied up among women making a mid-career transition into the business world, and high school students who go on to take post-secondary business courses.

The first half of the fashion show will be geared towards working women of all stripes, and include clothes from local retailers like Celebrations and Fashionista.

The second half will feature work from the Canadian designers.

Metituk said they attempted to get local designer Kassy Thiessen into the show, but she was unavailable.

"That was our initial idea, was that we wanted to get local designers, but in our search we turned out basically one that kind of fit the bill…and unfortunately she's out of town. So we're hoping to do another one with her at some point in the future," she said.

In a bit of an odd twist, women attending the event will be asked to wear their most interesting pair of shoes.

"We're asking women to wear the craziest pair of shoes that they have bought but they've never had an excuse to wear, and we're using this as an excuse to wear them," she laughed.

"So we're probably going to see some pretty wild shoes that are going to be paraded around."

Metituk said approximately 65%-70% of tickets have been sold, with a goal of raising at least $5,000 for the scholarship fund.

"And then once we know how much we have, we'll decide how much is given out each year and then continue to add to it," she said.

Tickets can be bought at the UPS Store, Digital Blues, or by calling Drennen at 780-539-0600.

Busy month for Bator

It's been quite a month for Beata Bator.

Bator, 41, celebrated her birthday on Jan. 4, and will celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary Jan. 27.

In addition, this month she is marking the 10th year of her downtown business, Eternity Fine Jewellery & Heirlooms on Richmond Avenue.

To mark the occasion, she's offering a sale of at least 20% on all items in the store until Jan. 30.

"It means a lot to me that I can celebrate, especially my anniversary with my husband, and my family, it's a fantastic thing in life so I just want to share this with people and encourage people to celebrate as many as possible with each other," she said.

Bator said she didn't know how long her business would last when she first opened it a decade ago, but wanted to be there as long as it was financially viable.

"I entered with an open mind that as long as I could be here, that's what I wanted. I wasn't even thinking how long as I was going to be in business, I wanted as long as possible," she said.

Asked what her favourite memory over her 10 years downtown was, she said: "We've had quite a few engagements that happened right here in the store."

First Anniversary

In the spring, Function First Pediatrics will celebrate its first year as a fully functional, private physical and occupational therapy clinic for children.

Before that, they were known as Complete Rehab and Wellness Services, but switched to pediatrics last spring. In August, they switched their focus slightly, and added a pediatric physical therapist on staff.

"Physical therapy is kind of a new thing for us. We've always sort of offered that service but we've always sub-contracted physiotherapists to provide the service. But now we actually employ a therapist on staff," explained occupational therapist Evelyne Pilger.

Things have been relatively busy since, although Pilger said they have felt the economic slowdown like everyone else.

"It's surprising how many people will put things off or they might come less frequently," she said.

The clinic's three occupational therapists and physical therapist often travel to rural towns in northern Alberta, and they will soon venture into the B.C. Peace as well.

But the bulk of their work comes from parents who bring their children in and schools who contract their services.

"That's what our focus is now, is kids, and really trying to help families out with their children who have disabilities or not necessarily kids with disabilities, it might be kids who just have trouble learning how to print or learning how to play a game, that sort of thing," she said.

And Pilger said they plan to expand the scope of their services even further.

"In February we're going to do a workshop to learn how to do up an assessment with other professionals that can actually help diagnose children with autism."

Helping Haiti

Staring Friday, Q99 and Scotiabank will set up donation boxes at the two bank branches (downtown and on 116 Street) to help the Haitian people as they struggle after last week's devastating earthquake. All funds will be turned over to the Red Cross, so do what you can to help.

Got a business issue you want to talk about? Hosting a conference or business event? Tell me about it! It's Your Business runs Tuesdays, email rzaccagna@bowesnet.com or call me at 532-1110 ext. 249.