Benefit spotlights domestic violence, child abuse

Robert Warner
The Enquirer

Fashion, rock and a serious message — stop domestic and child abuse and neglect — shared a stage Sunday afternoon in Battle Creek.

And while attendance at the BlueLight Benefit Fashion Show was small, the experience was huge for participants, a mentor said afterward.

About 65 people attended the event in W.K. Kellogg Auditorium, which seats about 2,000 people.

Still, "It was a massive undertaking" and a great learning experience for the organizers, the eight-member Calhoun County Youth Council, said Kate Segal, Calhoun County Board chairwoman and founder of the fledgling group.

More than $2,000 was raised, and contributions will be made to both SAFE Place and the Calhoun Child Abuse/Neglect Prevention Council, she said.

"We started doing planning back in November," said Ryan Bean, chairman of the council. Work on the project began in earnest after the first of the year, he said. "Each week it started picking up, getting more intense."

The event began with the light stuff: About 20 models from the new Front Row youth enrichment program strutting down the auditorium's aisles in the fashions they'd created.

Natasa Radonjic wore a draped red dress that had been designed by Ta Shanna Eady. Natasa said it was unlike anything she'd ever worn before, but that she was confident modeling it in the auditorium.

"We changed it a little bit, but it's pretty much the same thing she drew," said Beth Elaine Casebeer, who sewed the dress Natasa wore.

Debra Clawson, founder of Front Row, operated out of a storefront at 31 W. Michigan Ave., said the collaborative effort of design, creation and modeling are typical of the teamwork approach she emphasizes.

The models' turn on the catwalk was sandwiched between performances by two teen bands, Unlike Tomorrow and Reckon So.

After an intermission, things quickly took a serious turn.

Jennifer McEldowney, executive director of SAFE Place, showed the shelter for abused women's gut-wrenching informational video and talked about the severity of the problem:

Dom-estic violence is the leading cause of injury for women.

It's the leading cause of death for pregnant women.

In 50 percent to 70 percent of homes with domestic violence, there's also child abuse. The Youth Council also showed a PowerPoint presentation juxtaposing facts about abuse and neglect with dramatic photos depicting abuse.

In the bright sunlight outside the auditorium after the event, Bean looked back on the months of preparation and said, "We had a lot of work to do between the eight of us."

His summation: "For the first year, it turned out pretty good."

Robert Warner can be reached at 966-0674 or rwarner@gannett.com.

Originally published April 30, 2007
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