Student groups are bringing fashion to a female-only breast cancer fundraiser this Thursday at the Chabad Center.
Starting in 2009, the Chabad Center and two social sororities, Alpha Phi and Sigma Delta Tau, have taken the initiative to produce “Fashion for a Cure,” an annual event featuring student models to raise money for cancer research.
Rivkah Slonim, the education director at the Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life, helped to found the event.
“One day I was speaking to some girls from SDT and Alpha Phi, they were all seniors and graduated that year, that I was close with and they loved the idea so I asked them to co-sponsor the event with us,” Slonim wrote in an email.
All proceeds, including admissions costs, a clothing auction, a raffle to win prizes and donations for the event, will go to Sharsheret, a Jewish breast cancer organization that supports women and families who have dealt with the disease.
Planning for the show began last semester to ensure that this year’s show was effective and successful, according to Ariel Rosenberg, a sophomore majoring in management.
“[We] give people important information while providing them with a program of fun,” Slonim said. “We hope to surpass all of these goals through our new, dazzling, ultra elegant program this year.”
This new program includes a variety of changes. The show was previously scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sunday, but this year it will begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday. There is also a cocktail hour before the show, for seniors only.
This year, the Fashion Industry Club, a Binghamton University student group, is on board to help with the fashion show’s fundamentals, according to Rosenberg, president of the Fashion Club.
In addition, Slonim said all the organizers will be dressed in breast cancer awareness gear.
“Everyone will be dressed in black or pink semi-formal wear as opposed to jeans,” she said.
The fashion show is split into different categories including evening wear, casual wear, Shabbat wear and professional wear, Rosenberg said.
All clothes are donated from local stores and organizations like M.Y. Boutique, a store located Downtown, with additional funding from community organizations, clubs and bars.
There are also a mix of new features such as raffle prizes, live performances of singers and dancers, and a short speech from professor Jennifer Wegmann, who teaches a course on health and women’s issues.
“She was chosen because she is extremely popular and people love to listen to her,” Slomin said.
Each year the women hope to gain a larger audience and raise more money.
“There is less of an emphasis on Greek Life and more focus on making an event for all ladies to come together for a good cause,” Rosenberg said.
General admission tickets for the show can be purchased for $6, and tickets that include the cocktail hour are $10.