The Bowtie Memoirs: Shop for a Cause at Original Penguin

Wednesday, December 9, 2009:
Chicago's young and beautiful gathered tonight to "Shop for a Cause" at the Original Penguin store located at 901 North Rush Street. The event brought together a stylish mix of industry, ready and willing to shop in support of Vital Bridges, a charity that fights to "help people throughout metropolitan Chicago impacted by HIV and AIDS to improve their health and build self-sufficiency by providing food, nutrition, housing, case management and prevention services." Michigan Avenue Magazine was the media sponsor for the event and the team showed up to support such a great cause.

The event began at 6p.m. as guests piled in to escape the cold, grab a glass of wine and mingle with the crowd. The handsome Robbie Martin, a member of the Vital Bridges Junior Networking Committee, was the man of the night. Other guests included Alex Razzano (Lead Buyer for Bonnie&Clyde's), Pascale Wellin (Director of Public Relations for Bonnie&Clyde's), Bill Pritchard (Senior Vice President of Community Affairs at GoPride Corporation (ChicagoPride.com)), Stephanie D. Castagnier (President and Founder of Child Cause) and Anastasia Bullinger (Director of Public Relations for Child Cause.)

Robbie Martin speaks about Vital Bridges:

To motivate the spending (other than the tall glasses of wine) the shop offered a very impressive discount for the evening and a raffle to win a $500 Original Penguin gift card. The lucky winner (and personal friend of mine) was Enrique Crame III, a menswear manager at the Zara on Fifth Avenue, who just happened to be in town working at the new Chicago location!

Enrique Crame III, the dandy man of mystery.
aka: Winner of the gift card giveaway!:

After a few spilled glasses of wine, a great set by the energetic DJ and lots of pictures--it was time to shuffle back into the snowy Chicago night. I hope the event was very successful for Vital Bridges. It's such a great organization, supplying medicine, food and housing to people who cannot afford such essential necessities. It puts life into perspective as we shuffle through our busy days with a coffee in one hand and a cell phone in the other. There are people in this city, our city, that can't even afford to buy the medicine to keep them alive. Please support Vital Bridges by giving your time or money to help the individuals fighting to live with HIV and AIDS. As the holidays come and go, let us not forget how fortunate we are to have the support of family and friends around us. To give to the charity or to learn more about their mission and influential work, please visit the "Give" page on their website by clicking here.

Another great event for a truly fantastic cause.

Happy Holidays, my friends!

-R.M.B.

Original Penguin: