The Crisis Center for Women-Immediate Vital Assistance Services will hold its inaugural “Hunks in Heels” fundraiser, with dinner, entertainment and male models from the community walking the runway Oct. 22 at Avalon Golf & Country Club.
“Instead of doing walk a mile in her shoes, we decided this year to do a ‘Hunks in Heels’ theme instead,” Alicia Fossett, executive director of CCW-IVAS, said.
Those unable to attend who still want to vote on their favorite male in heels may visit http://hunksinheels.org through Oct. 21, with a $10 minimum donation required per vote.
Three awards will be distributed, including Mr. Attitude with Altitude, Mr. Web-Worthy and Our Hunk in Heels.
Wine grab bags will also be available for a $15 donation per bottle.
“Every year we’ve tried to do something different from a plated dinner to having a speaker,” Fossett said. “There’s already so many of those type of functions already available here in our small area. This year, we decided to go a little bigger than usual. We decided we wanted to get men involved and on board with our organization. We already have a lot of support from women, but we haven’t focused on gaining support from men as much.”
During dinner, one of the tables will represent survivors of domestic abuse, with one of the ladies sharing her own story about where she came from and where she plans to go from here.
“If you think about it, that’s a little bit different than most of these events,” Fossett said. “It’s important for donators and sponsors to know where their money is going toward and what it is being used for.”
With October representing Domestic Violence Awareness Month, CCW-IVAS employees mailed out 35,000 letters for their annual giving campaign to residents in Farragut, Hardin Valley and Loudon.
An awareness walk kicked off the month Oct. 1, which Fossett plans to continue holding every year.
Employees and board members are also selling concessions at Dead Man’s Farm through Halloween every night the haunted house is open, Fossett said.
“We always say that we will never again do three fundraisers during the month of October, but we always end up doing it anyway,” she added.
Fossett complimented board members on getting involved with the fundraisers and working hard toward raising additional money.
“Even with going into our 27th year here in this small community, we’re just getting the information out to our community that we’re still fighting this battle,” she said.
To illustrate the need, Fossett said last year CCW-IVAS provided over 11,000 bed nights, representing an increase of 1,500 more from the year before.
“We’ve had two really busy months,” Fossett said. “Tennessee used to be third in the nation for homicides related to domestic abuse. Then we went to fifth and now we’re back at third again. There were 276 domestic violence homicides in Tennessee from 2016. They’re hitting closer to home too. We just want them to know we’re available. They’re not aware. It’s one of those things where you don’t call us unless you need us.”
Call volume at the CCW-IVAS has increased to an average of 70 calls per month, while receiving as many as 22 calls during a recent week, Fossett said.
“It’s not just us either,” Courtney Chrestman, program specialist, said. “We’re hearing this from all of the local shelters that call volume continues to increase.”
Fossett recently became certified to facilitate a safe date program 10 weeks at a time with each session lasting 50 minutes.
“We have worked so hard on this,” Fossett said. “One of our board members actually pitched the idea in February, but we seriously started working on it during the spring in May. It’s hard to believe that it’s just two weeks away now.”
A limited amount of tickets are available for purchase by either calling CCS-IVAS at 865-816-3481 or by stopping by 120 Evans Lane in Lenoir City. Tickets must be purchased for $60 per person or $100 per couple by Oct. 15, although online support counts through Oct. 21.
