#FREEDAY: Winghart's Recent Charity Event

All throughout my college experience, I took a great interest in both photojournalism and documentary photography. The reason this is, is because I wanted to be able to raise awareness of social issues as well as help people through my art. However as we all know my career took quite the left turn when I started working for DSG's visual merchandising department and then started this blog. And while I love both, I'm beginning to feel slightly unfulfilled. 

This being said, with my blog rapidly approaching it's two year mark, I've decided it's time to start tackling some more prominent issues on here, while continuing my normal style and beauty posts. The first being a cause that has been near and dear to me since my college Junior and Senior thesis classes, and that would be helping the homeless. Long story short, my last two years of college were spent photographing, interviewing, and making friends with people who were living on the streets of Pittsburgh (I mostly concentrated on the Hill District and South Side). So needless to say, when I was notified that Winghart's Burger and Whiskey Bar was having an event to help feed the homeless as well as raise money for The Light of Life Mission, Pittsburgh Charity, I knew I just had to cover it here.

Just a Little Background Info

Winghart's South Side location, 1505 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Winghart's is a local restaurant that first opened it's doors back in 2011 and it's first location was located in the heart of downtown in Market Square. Later they went on to open their South Side location which is where Free Day was held. Zach and Colin (they're the owners) started a restaurant to serve fresh, never frozen food. If you would like to read their "About Us" and check out their menu for yourself, just click here or here.

Owner's Colin Smith and Zachary Winghart (names ordered respectively from left to right).

Also while I'm talking about the restaurant, ever since I was in college, Winghart's has been one of my favorite places to eat downtown. They're food is great, reasonably priced, and their cocktails are spot on as well. So, to my readers who live in and/or plan on visiting the 'Burgh, I highly suggest putting this restaurant on your list of places it visit! (And if you want my recommendations on food/drink, these are my faves: O.G. Mac & Cheese, the Percephone Salad, and the I Don't Care Whatever Burger. As for sips? I love their Gram Positive, and their seasonal drink 2 Monkey's 1 Banana, which features Monkey Shoulder Scotch, banana liqueur, muddled banana, and a slice of banana as a garnish.)

The Event: FREE DAY

While at the event, though I did not get to talk to Colin much, I did get to chat with Zach about what prompted them to do this fundraiser. Much like myself, Zach and Colin both really want to give back to their community and see the growing homeless population as a very pressing issue. Though I'm not going to go through all of the statistics here, as we all know the homeless epidemic has been on the rise in the U.S. since the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007. And unfortunately many of these individuals are not getting the help that they need. So obviously, Zach and Colin wanted to help in anyway they could, and that's how they ended up with Free Day.

The event itself took place this past Monday at Winghart's South Side location on East Carson street. For the event that they dubbed "Free Day", is exactly how it sounds: Their entire food menu (And remember, it's all made from scratch folks, and is absolutely delicious!) along with soft drinks was 100% free (excluding brews and spirits) in order to make sure people struggling could get a great meal. Free Day, however, wasn't just exclusively for the homeless, it was also opened to the rest of the public. Meaning anyone could get a kick-ass meal on the eatery's dime! But the charitable cause didn't just stop at feeding the people of Pittsburgh for free, as I stated earlier, Zach and Colin were also working with The Light of Life Mission, Pittsburgh Charity and collecting donations at the diner's discretion.

Final Thoughts

In closing, I just have to note what my favorite part of this event was and that was simply all the empathy I witnessed that day. Not that I don't [like to] think that most people are empathetic, but the sad truth is many of us have a hard time putting ourselves in some one else's shoes. However, while in attendance at Free Day, I noticed there were people from extremely different walks of life and backgrounds just sitting shoulder to shoulder and talking like old friends. Seeing this reminded me why I love being from Pittsburgh so much, how it's strong community of overall friendly people shaped me to be the person I am today. Whoever thought a little bit of free food would have such a big impact? As I heard Colin say in his interview with Channel 4 News, if one restaurant in the downtown area per week had a "free day" just think of the great strides this community would make in helping our fellow Pittsburghers that are in need, I personally think it's a great idea.

How about you? Would you like to see Pittsburgh's (or your city's) restaurants begin holding weekly free days to help the homeless? Sound off in the comments below, or tweet me at @StarkRavingChic with the hashtags #FreeDay and #Pittsburgh (or the name of your city) and I will retweet you to get the word out! 

Xx, Bree

**Note, if you didn't get a chance to make it down to Winghart's on Monday but would like to make a donation to help the cause, you can donate here at The Light of Life Mission, Pittsburgh Charity.

WearWoof: Where Trendy Meets Charity

Ever since I was a baby animals have been a huge part of my life. Growing up I honestly can't remember a time that my family didn't have at least on pet (most of the time we have multiple). This being said it is safe for you to assume that I am a huge animal lover, so when I found out about the store WearWoof last year I was elated. This trendy resale shop doesn't only have super cute and stylish clothes but it also has heart. The main reason this store is so awesome is because WearWoof donates all of the proceeds made to help WearWoof's shelter and rescue partners, as well as going towards things such as low cost spay/neuter programs. So if you shop here, you're helping homeless animals.

WearWoof 3400 McIntyre Square Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15237

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing the owner and executive director of this fabulous organization, Ms. Nancy Lee. Nancy was kind enough to accept an interview from me so my readers could learn more about her shop, and after you read the interview they're mission and story become even more heartwarming.  

The Interview:

Stark Raving Chic: What inspired you to create WearWoof? What brought about this awesome idea?

Nancy:  Several years ago I was became aware of the plight of homeless animals.  I was deeply concerned to learn that 6-8 million dogs and cats enter the shelter system every year, and nearly half never come out, that millions of healthy, treatable and adoptable animals were being killed every year by the system created to protect them.  It was especially alarming when put into the context of our current consumer climate, where we spend 60 billion dollars annually on pet products and services for our own pets.  As I learned more about the "animal welfare industry" I realized that there was a big disconnect between how we feel about our own pets and how we feel about homeless animals.  I also learned that there are big holes in own knowledge and awareness of the issues related to pet homelessness, such as puppy mills, breeding-related health issues, feral cat "control", and the problems created by breed-specific legislation.  One of the most interesting by-products of that disconnect and our lack of education on these issues is how little money we donate to animal welfare.  While we spend unprecedented amounts of money on our pets, only about 2% of all charitable giving goes to animal welfare.  It literally has the smallest piece of the charitable giving pie.

My idea for WearWoof came about in response to the funding crisis in animal welfare.  I felt that one of the problems with animal welfare fundraising is that they continue to ask only people who care about animals for money.  I wanted to create an income stream that was nearly blind to the actual cause - therefore capturing "funding" from people who may not otherwise give to animal charities.  The actual idea to create a resale shop as the funding stream came from my own interests.  I have a degree in fashion design and love to shop, and thought that it would be a great fit for our mission and fundraising strategy, and a relatively easy business model to run.  Resale fashion is finally being embraced and becoming more mainstream in Pittsburgh, and I felt the climate was right for a place like WearWoof.

SRC: How long has WearWoof been in operation?

N: I founded WearWoof in the fall of 2012 and began to create partnerships with shelters and rescues months before we actually had our store.  The support was overwhelming, and even without a brick and mortar, the fashion donations came pouring in (into my living room that is!!).  We opened the actual shop in April of 2013 in a small 1,000 square foot former landscaping supply shop in Ross Township, and then moved to our 3,700 sf retail space in McIntyre Square in the North Hills in July of this year.

SRC:  I understand you are a nonprofit and support the smaller shelters (which I think is awesome!), but which ones specifically do you support? 

N: We have dozens of local shelter and rescue partners, including traditional shelters, cat-specific rescues, homeless cat TNR organizations, pit bull and other breed rescues, farm sanctuaries, rabbit rescues and more.  Our concentration is Western PA - Allegheny and secondary and tertiary counties.  We support our partners primarily through our Pretty Plus program, which allows donors to designate one of our partners as beneficiary of their fashion donation.  When the item sells, a portion of the proceeds goes directly to that partner.  We also support partners through emergency funding, grants, and inkind donations such as raffle/auction items, event attendance, pro-bono legal services and marketing materials.  The full list of WearWoof partners is available on our website.

SRC: How does your donation process work? 

N: People can bring their donations - currently we accept women's and junior's fashion and accessories, pet fashion, and home décor - to the shop during normal store hours.  We encourage donors to visit our website to review the types and brands of items we accept, as well as the quality and standards guidelines, BEFORE bringing their items to us.  Educating our donors about our brand is important - it results in the most good being done for our partners and our mission.

Most donors drop off their items and do not wish to reclaim items we do not accept, as we pass items we can't use on to other charitable organizations such as Repurposed and Animal Advocates' thrift store.  Donors can designate any of our shelter and rescue partners as beneficiary, and when the items sells, a portion of the proceeds goes directly to that organization.  (The designation program, as noted above, is called "Pretty Plus.")  It's not necessary to designate a partner - all proceeds above overhead goes to our mission.

SRC:  What kind of clothes do you generally take in? (I know it is women's wear but is mostly work attire, casual wear, or a good mixture of both?)

N: Most of the inventory we offer is women's and junior's casual separates such as jeans, tops, skirts and sweaters.  We also accept and sell career suits and separates, cocktail attire and even some cruisewear.  Handbags and accessories do great at WearWoof, so we are always looking for costume jewelry, shoes and better brand handbags such as Coach, Michael Kors and non-leather favorites such as Baggalini.  We just this week started accepting home decor and fashion, giving our donors a new way to help save the lives of homeless animals.

SRC: Do you have any fundraising events coming up for those interested to participate in? 

N:  Our winter event, the Little Black Dress Trunk Show will be held in January.  This is popular event is the ultimate Girls Night Out - and will sell out!.  Guests wear their favorite little black dress, but no accessories, and then test-drive new looks while they shop from about a dozen fine handmade local jewelry vendors such as bel monili, Saya Papaya, Wanderluxe.  Guests also have the chance to win any of dozens of fabulous jewelry and accessory pieces.  Details are being planned right now and will be posted on our website in the next few weeks.

Wow I know I'll be getting a ticket to that event it sounds like so much fun and for a great cause! What do you all think of WearWoof and what do you do to help local shelters? Tell me about it in the comments below, and as always feel free to tweet me any awesome #OOTDs you come up with at @StarkRavingChic or tag me on Instagram @starkravingchic. 

Recent Charity Event: Cocktails for a Cure

Recently this past Tuesday I was invited to join a charity event called "Cocktails for a Cure" at a local (and one of my favorites) pub named The Sea Shell. Normally I don't do stories on things of this nature, but when I got to the quaint little place and seen the out poor of support I just thought that it is totally something worth writing about.  Especially because there are so many women and families (mine included) fighting this disease every year.

Firstly what is "Cocktails for a Cure"?

Cocktails for a Cure is an annual fundraiser for breast cancer that has been running since October 2012.  This charity event was started by Sara Wafa, the owner of the Element Day Spa, located in Moon Township. She was inspired to start this event because her aunt died of breast cancer a few years prior, and wanted to make a fundraiser that would raise money as well as awareness for those who are fighting or have a family member that is fighting this horrible disease. This even is every second Tuesday in October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

What Events Take Place Each Year at Cocktails for a Cure?

Each year at this event The Sea Shell offers $5.00 Mini Massages compliments of Element Day Spa, pink martinis (which are delicious by the way!), a 50/50 raffle which you can win gifts such as Pinktober tees,  cure themed treats such as pink ribbon cookies, all topped off with a DJ! 

How does the donation process work? And what can you do to donate?

That past two years, Sara has chosen a member in the community who is currently undergoing radiation to donate the money raised by the fundraiser to to help with medical expenses. But don't worry, if you missed Cocktails for a Cure you can still donate by stopping by the Shell and purchase a Pinktober tee for $20 dollars which these proceeds go to the Sara G. Komen Foundation.

In case you missed the event, here are a few fun snapshots I took of the nights events:

Snacks & 50/50 Prizes

Masseuses, Sara Wafa and Stephanie Fiedler, of the Element Day Spa

A great turn out for the cure!

Last but not least, the women who make this event happen each year:

From Left to Right: Ludetta Regan, Tiffiney Banks, Justine Bazzo, Syephanie Fielder, Sara Wafa, and Lea Guarina

Interested in other charity events coming up from these lovely ladies? All through the months of November and December Element Day Spa and The Sea Shell team up and collect donations for Animal Friends located on Camp Horne Road.