Styleworks is an annual fashion show and luncheon raising funds for Siskin Children's Institute. There will be a preview party on April 30th, and the main event is on May 1st. WUTC's Michael Edward Miller speaks with event co-chairs Rachelle Haddock and Rachael Welch.
From a media release:
Siskin Children’s Institute is pleased to announce Rachelle Haddock and Rachael Welch as the co-chairs for the 2014 StyleWorks fashion show once again sponsored by Belk. A spring tradition in Chattanooga, Styleworks supports Siskin Children’s Institute’s programs that serve 1,500 children and families annually. This year’s event will take place on April 30 and May 1 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
StyleWorks draws more than 1,000 guests to a runway fashion show, rivaling those seen in New York or Paris. The event begins with the Sip&Shop Preview Party, an evening out with friends complete with shopping, cocktails, giveaways, music and more! StyleWorks continues the next day with a luncheon and fashion show, featuring professional models as well as children from the Siskin Early Learning Centers who will preview Belk’s trendiest clothing and accessories of the season.
For Haddock and Welch, StyleWorks is an annual affair regardless if they’re standing behind the podium or if they’re sorting through wares in the Marketplace, cocktail in hand. Both have been a part of StyleWorks and the Institute family for many years as moms, volunteers and community advocates.
Both women serve as ambassadors for the Institute and are involved in many community-wide efforts. For 12 years, Haddock as been the national gallery manager at Shuptrine’s Gallery, working with individual collectors, museums, art societies and historical institutions. With a passion for art, Haddock participates in arts-related events to raise funds for local non-profit organizations, including the Chattanooga Nature Center, the CSO and Siskin Children’s Institute. She also volunteers at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen and is the co-chair of the Siskin Family Association at the Early Learning Center downtown where her two boys, Landon and Grady, attend.
“I love the Institute, and I love StyleWorks,” said Haddock, whose two sons attend the Siskin Early Learning Center. “This is an opportunity for me to give back to the Institute for a cause that my family wholeheartedly loves and supports.”
Her co-chair is also mom to children who attended the Siskin Early Learning Center. “Our time at the Institute has become a life-changing experience for my family,” said Welch. “Our twins, Zeke and Emmie, were born prematurely and had some developmental delays early in life. The teachers, staff and therapists at the Institute gave us exactly what we needed in a challenging time in our lives.”
Welch works in HR and Communication at the Tennessee Valley Authority and has an exhaustive list of community service, which includes shaving her head to raise funds for the Children’s Hospital oncology unit this summer. She has served in a myriad of positions for agencies her family has benefitted from, including the March of Dimes, Ronald McDonald House, Children’s Hospital, Siskin Children’s Institute and the American Heart Association. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute and was a 2013 Circle of Red Society member for Go Red for Women. Welch also serves as the Day of Caring Coordinator for the Greater Chattanooga Area Combined Federal Campaign (CFC).
“The Institute is incredibly privileged to have Rachelle and Rachael take the lead as this year’s Styleworks co-chairs,” said John Farrimond, Institute president and CEO. “They are genuinely invested in the Institute’s mission and bring a unique depth of leadership and passion to the table.”
Proceeds from the event benefit children with special needs and their families through the Institute’s four areas of focus: education, outreach, developmental pediatric health care and research.
For more information about StyleWorks, visit www.siskin.org/styleworks or call 423.648.1706.
ABOUT SISKIN CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE
Founded in 1950, Siskin Children’s Institute, a non-profit organization, achieves its mission locally and nationally through four initiatives: education, outreach, health care and research. The Institute provides early childhood education where children with and without disabilities learn together; family support and professional development programs; developmental pediatric health care; and research in early childhood development and special education. For more information about Siskin Children's Institute, visit www.siskin.org.