Positive Teen Ambassadors for Change Keystone Club Fashion Show

Hi Everybody--

WWNP sent me this--this is and example of the sort of programs we need to keep WW kids out of trouble--let's support, if we can! : )

News -- For Immediate Release
Press Release: G. Dean Young, Executive Director
Boys & Girls Club of Easton – The Easton Teen Center
1101 Northampton Street, Easton, PA 18042
Telephone: 484-239-2075 Fax: 610-253-6041
Email Gabriel@fast.net or gabriel5@rcn.com

“Fashion Show – Proceeds for Kids”

(EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, Tuesday, October 21, 2008). This Sunday, October 26th,
2008, the Positive Teen Ambassadors for Change Keystone Club, (PTAFCKC),
presents "CAT’S MEOW" a ladies wear fashion show featuring fashion designs by
Jacquline White, Creative Arts Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Easton and
Choreography by Eric Smith, age 16, Keystone Club member at the Boys & Girls
Club of Easton.

The Fashion Show, hosted at the Easton Teen Center, better known as “THE CLUB”
located at 1101 Northampton Street in Easton, PA, is scheduled to begin at
5:30pm and runs until 7:30pm. The show is presented in cooperation with Two
Rivers Health & Wellness Foundation and the Westward Neighborhood Partnership
with proceeds benefiting teen leadership training opportunities like the Boys &
Girls Club of Easton’s Keystone Club. Doors open at 5:00pm.

"Cat’s Meow" will present fifteen local teenage models and features guest model
Crystal Burley, a Lafayette College Student, who is also a role model for the
PTAFCKC and a volunteer for modern dance instruction at the Teen Center.
Admission and suggested donations are: $10.00 for adults, $7.00 for youth and
$5.00 for members with club ID card.

Dean Young, Executive Director said, “Keystone Club members, along with
Jacquline White, decided to host the Fashion Show not only to demonstrate their
talents but they hope to raise much needed support revenue that can help sustain
programs and activities that directly benefit club members personal growth &
development.”

Known as one of the premier youth service agencies in Easton, PA, The Boys &
Girls Club of Easton now is facing a funding shortfall due to the slow economy,
and this has resulted in cutbacks in support revenue. “It is encouraging
watching these young people helping and thinking of ways in which they can
contribute in raising dollars that will untimely support programs that are
practical and relevant to them.” Young added.

With the extra cash raised, the group will send six members of their Keystone
Club to an upcoming Boys & Girls Club’s of America Regional Keystone Teen
Leadership Summit hosted by Boys & Girls Club’s of Newark, New Jersey, November
14 through November 16, 2008.


ABOUT KEYSTONE CLUBS:
Keystone Clubs are chartered small-group character and leadership clubs for
teen’s ages 14-18 years of age. The program engages teens providing an
opportunity to connect with others while meeting many of their developmental
needs. Through empowerment by club staff, Keystoners are able to not only
influence their peers, but are also positioned to significantly influence their
community. Teens develop an understanding of their role as contributing citizens.
Keystoners identify the issues that concern the community and are empowered to
develop and implement projects that address them. These projects may include:
voters’ education campaigns, blood and organ drives, anti-drug/violence
workshops cultural fairs, community unity campaigns, intergenerational
activities, cultural exchanges and more.
As a result of their efforts, Keystoners are able to demonstrate the
contributions that teens can make in society. Additionally as teens recognized
for their efforts, they gain a greater sense of connection to the world around them.

If you cannot attend but want to make an investment, donations can be made
payable to the Boys & Girls Club of Easton, and mailed to the following address:
Boys & Girls Club of Easton
c/o Positive Teen Ambassador Keystone Club
P.O. Box 741
Easton, PA 18044-0741.

For more information or to reserve seating call 610-253-1101 between 1:00pm
until 9pm Monday trough Friday and 9am until 5pm on Saturday’s.

ABOUT THE SHOW:
The entire show will be hosted and organized by teen member of the Positive Teen
& Ambassadors for Change Keystone Club they are: TARIQ BROOKS (17yrs.) - MC --
ERIC SMITH (16yrs) - Coordinator, Choreographer of walk and Show’s Runway Design
-- ELIZABETH CANDELARIO (17yrs) – Decorator, DOMANIQUE MOSER (11yrs) -
Photographs (with the aid of one of the members of the Keystone Club), TAJHAL
DOWLING (16yrs) -- Fashion Show-Aide "Dressers" -- STEPHANIE SANTOS (17 yrs) -
Fashion Show-Aide "Dressers" -- TINA DOWLING-HACKETT, B&GCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR -
Cosmetics.
STARTING PROMPTLY at 5pm seating will begin until 5:30 followed by a performance
by the Boys & Girls Club of Easton's dance group A.W.I (Action, Words and
Inspiration) SHOW DATE: Sunday, October 26, 2008 @ 5:30pm-7:30pm. LOCATION: The
Easton Teen Center a.k.a. "The Club" @ 1101 Northampton Street, Easton, PA
18042, phone 610-253-1102

ABOUT: JACKIE WHITE, fashion designer, dancer and artist:

MY INSPIRATION AND HOW I GOT STARTED:
The inspiration to sew came from my great-grandmother Lilly Mae Harris when I
was about 10 or 11 yrs old. She, (my grand-mother), would sew dresses for my
dolls and I would watch carefully and later make my own doll clothes. I started
sketching in elementary school on my note books during recess. I would cut up
anything I could get my hands on around the house. That made my mom mad; she
got tired of me cutting up her dresses and things, so she took me to buy
materials I need to create my designs.
Having the materials to work with, I put together my first fashion show at the
Boys & Girls Club of Easton in a small art room and the game room area; I was
just 11 years old at that time. I continued to draw and sew, the more I did the
better I got. During my middle school to high school days, I took art and
sewing classes. In High School I made a pair of bell bottoms with the funkiest
of colors. The pants were a sand color with orange flowers and green leaves. My
teacher told me that if I wore them to school she would give me extra credit.
So being the person that I am, I wore those bells with pride. That was fun!
After graduating high school in '95, I enrolled myself into Allentown Business
School. There I studied Fashion Merchandising, which is not design but the
business aspect of fashion. I learned the understanding of what a buyer does,
textiles, how to dress a window, how to do floor plans, design my own clothing
line and store (my store was called Nine Months, a maternity store), traveled to
NY to show rooms and walked down Fashion Ave to buy fabric and to later put on 6
fashion shows between 1999-2005. I get my inspirations for my designs by being
different and having a unique style. I inspire to be different and fashion
affords me that opportunity.
I have always dreamed of being a Fashion Designer. I decided that I would need
a name for my clothing line. I went with something I love; Lions, the Big Cats.
My zodiac sign is Leo and Leo is the Lion and I love lions. So I came up with
the name "Cat's Meow". "Cat's Meow" is sexier than lion's roar. I do my own
sewing and designs. Fashion is my nature. I plan to tryout for the show
"Project Runway". Confidence is Key!!!....... So come check me out and see what
you think, "Meow".
Currently, my passion is working with young teenagers who are also aspiring to
become designers, fashion models, dancers and/or pursuing work in the area of
creative arts. The Boys & Girls Club of Easton and the Easton Teen Center
offer an environment and resources to implement the humanities aspects of my
work and the Boys & Girls Club organization is supportive and exceptional in
given me the flexibility to utilize my talents in working with and for the young
people we serve. Who knows, “what could happen,” maybe there’s a future
designer among us, in the interim these kids are off the streets and engaged in
doing something positive.