Altru's Infant Bereavement program to be held in Tuesday night

Altru’s Infant Bereavement Program will be at the center of action Tuesday night when Truyu Aesthetic Center and the Grand Forks Good Girls Club put on Downtown Fashion Night 2013.

Downtown Fashion Night has two purposes, according to event organizer and Good Girls Club member Sadie Gardner: Most importantly, the event will raise money for the bereavement program. It’s a cause near and dear to Gardner’s heart having experienced infant loss firsthand nearly eight years ago.

Tickets are $15 each for the event, and 100 percent of that goes to the cause.

As the owner of Sadie’s Couture Floral and Event Styling, Gardner also is looking forward to showcasing multiple downtown businesses and bringing people out to see all that downtown has to offer.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m. with a social hour at Tre Chic Bridal at the corner of DeMers Avenue and Fourth Street. Hors d’oeuvres will be provided by Giuseppe’s, Sanders 1907 and The Toasted Frog. Gilly’s, Level 10 and O’Reilly’s will provide a cash bar.

At 7:30 p.m., the action moves to the Empire Arts for a fashion show featuring RH Standard, Adley Anne’s, True Colors Consignment, Kittson and 3rd and Tres Chic Bridal. Truyu is providing make-up artists for the models and Olivieri’s Salon and Avant Salon will create hairstyles. Dance Etc. will be doing some performances as well.

After the show, desserts will be provided by Dakota Harvest Bakery with a cash bar by Rhombus Guys and a coffee bar by Urban Stampede.

To maximize possible donations, all participating businesses, restaurants and bars will then be donating 10 percent of their sales by event attendees from Wednesday through Saturday. Truyu will donate 20 percent of sales to the Infant Bereavement Program.

The group behind the fashion night is the Grand Forks Good Girls Club, a service club started last fall by a group of local women looking to find a way to give back to the community.

“We can’t just sit back and think Grand Forks will be a great place to live without getting involved,” said Erinn Hakstol, club vice president.

At the same time, Hakstol said, most of the women in the group are in busy stages of their lives, many of them with young children at home, so an important mantra of the group has been to keep it simple.

Each gathering involves a simple charitable activity. For example, the first event went to benefit The Mission and members were just asked to bring a bag of food. Last month’s event called for a donation of items like paper towels and journals for the CVIC.

The Good Girls Club meets once a month, and while charity is a big part of the mission, club president Mary Fox said the goal is also for women to have a guilt-free excuse for a girl’s night out once a month. Meetings are held at various local establishments.

“Charity, chatting and cocktails,” she said, “Those are the three big things.”

As for that keep-it-simple rule, the fashion show is obviously an exception.

“It’s just a great way to kick off 2013,” Fox said.

The event is open to the public, but seating is limited. Tickets can be purchased in advance at either Avant location in Grand Forks, or by going online to the Good Girl’s website: www.gfgoodgirlsclub.com.

Tags: gf and egf, mental health, accent, updates, loss, grief, help, health, infant, death