Wine, Women & Shoes (WW&S) is an organization built to support women’s and children’s charities. By hosting swanky shindigs, this company gets it done right. On April 3, 2014, they’ll be at it again in the Burney Center on the UNC-Wilmington campus.
This year’s WW&S event’s proceeds will help benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Southeastern, N.C. Festivities include a fashion show, wine and food tasting, and a very fashionable silent auction.
Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina was founded in 1986, and has been working since then to grant the wishes of children between the ages of two-and-a-half to 18 with life-threatening medical conditions. This local chapter covers 49 counties in eastern North Carolina from the Alamance/Orange County line all the way to the coast. Since its founding more than a decade ago, Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina has granted 2,700 wishes!
UNCW faculty and students are actively participating in this year’s WW&S event as volunteers and “Shoe Guys.”
Photoshoot of Shoe Guys courtesy of Wilmington North Carolina Magazine.
The “Shoe Guys” are notably one of the many highlights of a WW&S event. These men, dressed like models in all black, are not only knowledgeable about shoes and fashion, but they care about the community and are willing to come and support a great cause, in of course, one of the most dangerous places—a room full of women.
The “Shoe Guys” present the hottest shoe styles on silver trays while walking around sharing facts about “the art of wine and shoe pairing.” In addition to being extremely suave in taste, the “Shoe Guys” sell raffle tickets, promote auction lots and hand out swag bags among other tasks.
Each “Shoe Guy” is given a page on the Crowd Rise website in order to raise money for Make-A-Wish. Whoever raises the most will be crowned the “King of Sole” at the end of the night.
UNCW Associate Professor of English, Dr. Anthony Atkins has done a little more than committing to being a “Shoe Guy” in this year’s event. On Thursday, March 27, Dr. Atkins participated in the WW&S event held in Mayfaire Town Center at Belk by promoting the event by dressing up in his designated “Shoe Guy” attire and talking with customers about the event.
Dr. Atkins and I at the Belk WW&S preview event.
Swag bags filled with Lancôme makeup bags, Belk tumblers, pink coozies, Clinique skincare products and a few other goodies were sent home with attendees.
WW&S Cupcake
Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina Director of Philanthropy for the Wilmington area, Janis Netherland coordinated the Belk event along with several other small events leading up to this Thursday.
In addition to attending and participating in the Belk event, Dr. Atkins held a fundraiser of his own by partnering with Kickback Jacks on South College Road. On March 28, Dr. Atkins handed out flyers and stuck around Kickbacks from 5-10 p.m. to help raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Dr. Atkins and I at the Kickback Jacks promotional event.
WW&S flyers that were handed out at Kickback Jacks.
Learn more about Dr. Atkins efforts in his interview with Swoop or read Wilmington North Carolina Magazine’s article on the event.
Join in on the fun and help the UNCW team in raising money for a great cause. Get last minute tickets here!