Local Kelowna residents Rita Romei and her son
Mark are pledging to shave their heads in support of Cool Arts Society,
an organization dedicated to providing fine arts opportunities to adults with
developmental disabilities living in the Central Okanagan.
“My
son, Mark (age 11) and I, wanted to do something to benefit people with special
needs,” says Rita, “My
niece, Shameera has special needs and attends school at Rutland Senior
Secondary. She’s currently too young to participate in Cool Arts, but she’s a
very talented artist and I’m really excited that she’ll have the opportunity to
continue to develop as an artist when she’s an adult.
Rita participated in her first shaved-head
fundraiser 5 years ago, for Balding for Dollars. The money raised
went to BC Children's Hospital and the hair went to Wigs For Kids.
This year, she saw the opportunity to benefit two causes with her head-shave.
“‘Sham’,
is definitely the inspiration for this event! “
notes Rita. “I am planning to send the
hair to Wigs for Kids again. Hopefully, this event will create more public
awareness for people with special needs and the programming Cool Arts has to
offer.”
As a not-for-profit society and registered
Canadian Charity, Cool Arts relies on donations, sponsorships and grants to
continue to run our programming.
“We are always looking for fun and creative
ways to raise both money and awareness for Cool Arts,” says Shauna
Oddleifson, Cool Arts President. “We are
thrilled to have Rita and Mark pick us as the charity for the pledges for
shaving their heads.”
Money raised from this event will go to support Cool
Arts’ upcoming Digital Media Program.
Event will take place at 555 Fuller Avenue,
Saturday, June 28th at 2:00
p.m.
Rebecca Reynolds of Cream Salons is donating her
time to the event.
If you are interested in pledging Rita or Mark,
please contact us at info@coolarts.ca.
For more information
about Cool Arts, visit our web site at www.coolarts.ca,
For more information, or to arrange for an interview,
please contact Rena Warren, Executive Director for Cool Arts at 250-899-6381 or
email info@coolarts.ca
