Annual fashion show supports People Reaching Out to People.
Perfect pairs: peanut butter and jelly … peanut butter and bananas … but, peanut butter and fashion shows? Hmmm … not so much. Nevertheless, if you want to know what prompted Liesl Beck to start the PROPerly Poised fashion show four years ago, you must start with peanut butter. The fashion show is billed as the only event of its kind in the Southwest Metro area, and it is almost certainly the only fashion show, anywhere, that owes its existence to peanut butter.
Four years ago, Beck was the human resources director for the Bernard Group. The company collected peanut butter to donate to People Reaching Out to People’s (PROP) food shelf to support a summer program to get meals to kids, who rely on subsidized school lunches during the school year. Beck took the peanut butter to PROP and learned about its mission. The more she thought about it, the more Beck knew there something more she could do to support the organization. That’s when the fashion show was born.
The PROP food shelf helps folks in the Southwest Metro when paycheck-to-paycheck comes up a little short. (Its financial service area helps those in Eden Prairie and Chanhassen.) Kelli Steidle, marketing director of PROP, says that even though there is a lot of affluence in the local communities, there are also people who struggle. “If you work here, that may not mean you can afford to live here,” Steidle says. “Our data tells us that the average monthly cost of living for a family of four (in the community) is $4,500. The average household income of a PROP client family is $2,000. That’s a big hole.”
Families, who are just getting by, may get hit by an unexpected expense, like car repair, and need a little help to get to the next pay check. “Most of the people we help are working,” she says. “Sixty two percent of our clients are employed.” PROP serves 3,400 individuals a year.
The fashion show has proven successful in supporting PROP, raising $25,000 last year, and Beck says she intends to double that amount this year. To accommodate the increasing number of attendees, this year’s show moved from Bearpath Country Club to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The theme for the show is One Love, which Beck says speaks to “universal love and respect for all people … I want it to be about inclusion and diversity,” she says, adding it represents love and compassion for all people, as well. While the fashion show is the highlight of the evening, a cocktail hour and live fund-a-need auction are also part of the festivities.
To add more fun to the line-up, Julia Cobbs of the Lori and Julia radio show on myTalk 107.1 is serving as the celebrity champion and emcee of this year’s event. Former state representative Jenifer Loon, who serves on the PROP board, will serve as the PROP representative. “By supporting PROPerly Poised, the community comes together for what has become a ‘not to be missed’ evening while helping others in need,” she says. “The fashion show is just spectacular—beautiful clothes and a fun atmosphere—and all for a good cause.”
One of the things Beck celebrates about the show is the fact that she’s able to partner with locally-owned businesses, many of them woman-owned. This year, the list of local boutiques contributing clothes to show includes Evereve, Dugo, Primp, Roe Wolf, Willa June and other local designers. “This is really a group effort to raise money for PROP,” Beck says. “We’re coming together as a team to make the event a success.”
PROPerly Poised fashion show, November 8, 7-8 p.m. (social hour), 8 p.m. (fashion show) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska.
Tickets, including VIP tickets, can be purchased at PROPERLY-POISED-2019.evenbrite.com. All tickets include an all-day pass to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on the day of the event.
Attire: Fashionable best
To learn more about PROP, visit propfood.org.
Facebook: PROP – People Reaching Out to People
