Coldwater Creek & Fashion for the Cure

Yesterday I modeled and spoke at a Coldwater Creek "Fashion for the Cure" event at Alderwood Mall benefiting the Komen Foundation.

I had sent an email to Komen about the Seattle Race, asking what plans they had (if any) to recognize women with mets as part of the Survivor Parade. The reply I received was on a completely different subject, asking if I would be interested in telling my survivor story at a Coldwater Creek store.

So on Thursday I went with a girlfriend to check out the clothes. The staff pampered us with lattes, chocolate, and our own style consultant. I must have tried on 25 items when we came up with three outfits: a long black dress with hot pink jacket; bright blue sleeveless shirt with white jeans; and orange sleeveless shirt over an orange print skirt. All very flattering and just my colors!

On Sunday the Coldwater Creek staff set up a table with refreshments. Everything in the store was 10% off, and Coldwater Creek donated 10% of the sales during the event to Komen. A local Mary Kay rep. was offering breast delf-exam shower cards, a 20% discount on purchases and a donation to Komen. A Komen rep. distributed brochures for the Race.

I spoke to 10-12 shoppers while they were enjoying their wine and cheese. Several of the women came up afterwards to talk with me in more detail. The modeling was wearing the outfits we had picked out while I spoke. So I changed and hung out again, speaking with women individually.

One woman's 42 year old daughter-in-law had just been diagnosed. Another woman told me about her mother. And none of them expected to see someone looking like me say that I had stage IV cancer.

The most intriguing part to me was hearing from the Coldwater Creek employees about their company's national pertnership with Komen. They probably didn't raise a lot of money yesterday, but they are tremendously proud of their employer being involved with this cause. Given that these events are repeated at stores all over the country, and that they are a long-time national sponsor of the Race for the Cure, Coldwater Creek has reason to be proud of the more than $2.9 million they've given to Komen over the years.

I expect to see many of these women at the Coldwater Creek booth at the Race on Saturday!