SoulFood Books to host fashion show, silent auction

Published 2:51 pm Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Fashion is coming to SoulFood Books and it’s all for a good cause.

On Sunday night from 6-9 p.m., the bookstore and cafe at 15748 Redmond Way in Redmond will open after hours to hold a fashion show and silent auction to raise money for Seattle Children’s Hospital and American Cancer Society (ACS).

“Reaching Extraordinary is Never Unattainable” (RENU) is the brainchild of organizers Maryam Rouhfar of Redmond and Asha Singh of Sammamish, both of whom have personal ties to the event’s two beneficiaries.

Rouhfar moved to the Pacific Northwest from Iran 20 years ago with her family so her sister, who had been diagnosed with a type of bone cancer called Ewing sarcoma, could be treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Half of the proceeds from RENU will go toward uncompensated care at the hospital to help families who can’t afford it — something Rouhfar is familiar with as her family had limited funds when they moved from Iran.

“This is just my way of giving back,” she said.

Rouhfar and Singh chose the ACS, which will receive the other half of the proceeds, as their second organization to donate to as a way to honor Singh’s father, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago.

Singh, a senior at Eastlake High School, has participated in the ACS’s annual Relay for Life fundraiser in the past but said she wanted to do something more. She came up with the idea of organizing a silent auction, which will include jewelry, handbags, outerwear, children’s toys, artwork and more.

The event is also Singh’s senior project and Rouhfar, who has some marketing experience is Singh’s mentor for the project. Singh said throughout the process she has learned a lot, but there is one thing she has found to be the most vital.

“I’ve learned that organization is the most important thing,” she said about putting on any type of event.

This is also Rouhfar’s first time organizing any type of event as well.

She and Singh work together at Janie and Jack in Redmond Town Center and the two decided to collaborate around late December last year and early January. The fashion show will feature and promote Rouhfar’s developing shoe designing business, Stroke of Midnight, while at the same time, provide Singh with a quality senior project and raise money for two good causes.

Both Rouhfar and Singh said finding a venue for RENU was a little difficult as not many places were willing to host an event put on by individuals who had no experience. But when Rouhfar, a regular at SoulFood, approached owner Clint McCune about the event, he was all for it.

McCune’s store holds events on a regular basis, so he was familiar with what it would take, but he admitted that he had no experience with fashion or putting on a fashion show.

“We’d never done one before,” he said. “I’ve had to pull up different fashion shows, watch them and see what their key ingredients are.”

McCune said it was a challenge figuring out the logistics of turning SoulFood’s space into a runway, but he was excited to try something new. He also said it has also been great to work with Rouhfar and Singh.

“(Rouhfar) is a great designer,” he said.

About Singh, he said, “I’m always impressed when I meet a youngster who is driven with a mission.”

The first two hours of RENU will be for the silent auction, announcements and a short video. The fashion show, which will feature about 10 shoe designs by Rouhfar, will begin at 8 p.m.

Tickets for the event are cash only and will be sold at the door. General admission is $10 and V.I.P. tickets, which includes front-row seating, priority auctioning and a “swag bag.”

All proceeds from the event will go to Seattle Children’s Hospital and the ACS.