Annual Fashion for Food Show

Melissa Rosman- Editor in Chief

Friday, November 8, SUNY Oneonta’s event management class, along with other branches of human ecology students, hosted the second annual “Fashion for Food” show at the Oneonta Elks Club on Chestnut Street.The show raised $1,000 for St. Mary’s food pantry, a local charity. Students and faculty participated in this community event to benefit a great cause. Senior Jorie Cohen, one of the primary organizers of the event said, “We had great reviews from all of the attendees saying they had an amazing time. They loved the food, service and show.” This year after adding the total number of tickets sold before the show and at the door, there were 140 attendees in total.
The event began promptly at 6:00 p.m. with a sit down buffet style Italian dinner donated by Sodexo catering company. Community members had about one hour to eat before the fashion show began. The hour-long show consisted of student volunteers modeling clothing donated by Transitions Boutique, jewelry by Edward Teleky Jewelers and makeup by Barbara Ungerland of Arbonne International Makeup. Student fashion majors also had the chance to show off their own original collections by sending models down the runway in their designs. As each model walked down the lighted runway, showing off a unique item of clothing, volunteer DJ, senior Jimmy Johnston, announced the make of the clothing and jewelry and the price. All items modeled were available to be purchased from the vendors following the fashion show. The designers had a chance to promote their clothing and accessories and community members had the opportunity to support the local stores.
The event management class raised money for this event through sponsorship of models by local community businesses. There were a total of fifteen businesses that sponsored models at the price of $25 per model and multiple businesses either represented more than one model or generously donated over the $25 requirement. Besides the donors and students, the event management class reached out to over 45 volunteers who helped with the planning of the event, food prep and set up. In addition to helping with event planning and production, SUNY Oneonta students also volunteered to put on an intermission show. Senior Remy Gautreau sung a selection of songs and played acoustic guitar, and the a cappella group Hooked on Tonics also performed.
When asked what goals the event management class hoped to accomplish, Cohen said, “We were hoping to help pay for a month’s worth of food at the St. Mary’s Food Pantry. We didn’t quite reach that goal but we were halfway there. They have to pay over $2000 a month.” Cohen also added that they wanted to make the community aware of the existence of St. Mary’s Food Pantry because of the great cause and need for weekly donations. The fashion show provided the community with awareness of the food pantry as well as with the awareness of local Oneonta businesses the community can support.