Dear friends of RENT,
This October 24th is the 6th and last, Annual “RENT” Fundraiser for Mannequin Charity Boutique. We’ve had 8 great years down in OTR, and with the previous ten years of “one day a year” sales out of warehouses, we’ve given away over $600,000.
Even though I’m going from a brick & mortar store to an online store, Etsy MannequinBoutique (therefore not needing to pay RENT!), I wanted to do one more.
We’ve given the majority of our funding to 8 key charities:
Caracole, FreeStore Food Bank, First Step Home, UCAN Spay/Neuter, Wesley Chapel Mission Center, LaSoupe, Tender Mercies and Lighthouse Youth Services.
But we’ve also given to:
Central Clinic, a number of needy individuals in OTR, Heifer International helping those in third world countries, the Women’s Alliance, Pets In Need, the Mini MicroCinema, the Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, Chatfield College for scholarships, People Working Cooperatively, the Red Cross, and Planned Parenthood.
On a personal note, thank you from the bottom of my heart to all our donors and shoppers. Thank you Rick Kimbler and 3CDC for giving me my first two years of rent free. And Leslie & Tim at the Haile Foundation for their support of Mannequin…you are not only my angels, but my dear friends. Urban Sites, Mannequin’s landlord, you have always taken such good care of our shop…you have clearly become family. I haven’t named individuals because there are so many. You know who you are…generous, caring, and always embracing the saying “there but for the grace of God go I.” That was why when I commissioned the incredible Pam Kravetz to paint a mannequin, I said “do anything you want…but somewhere paint this proverb.” It’s on her arm. ”Shop at Moe’s” is on her butt.
If any one of our charities means something to you…join us on the 24th and let’s show how much we appreciate what they do for those in need in our great city.
Hugs,
Moe