Behind the Lines: An Interview With the Host Committee: Part 2

I'm so excited to be writing the second installment of our "Behind the Lines" blog series. In case you haven't yet read our previous post, we will be interviewing each of our volunteers, because we truly think it's important that you all get to know us better!

Heather French Henry once said, "Volunteering is at the very core of being human. No one has made it through life without someone else's help." Volunteers, in my opinion, are so special and, ultimately, essential for the progression of our world!

So, why do volunteers dedicate time to work on things? Because we're passionate and, though we're not paid in money, we are paid in gratification, fulfillment and purpose. For this post, we've interviewed Paige, our much-appreciated host committee member and Chief of Volunteers. To learn more about Paige, what she does within our organizations and why, please continue to read her exclusive interview below!

Paige (left) with Foundation founder Amanda Munz (center) and other fellow volunteers!

Can you please provide a brief description of yourself for our readers? (Hobbies, college(s) attended: major, minor, year graduated; what you’d like to do for your career). I attended Eastern Connecticut State University and graduated in May 2014 with a degree in Business Administration, Marketing focus. Some hobbies would include, volunteering my time for The Fashion Foundation, hiking, going to the beach and traveling. 

Do you volunteer with any other organizations? What are you passionate about? In the past I have volunteered for a multitude of other organizations, but within the past year I have also volunteered for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund’s Super Saturday in the Hamptons. 

What is your daytime job and what is your position/title at The Fashion Foundation? I am currently employed by Autumn Cashmere as a wholesale sales assistant. For The Fashion Foundation I participate as an Event Committee Member, where I work with ticket sales, and obtaining donations and sponsorships for upcoming events. 

How did you become involved with The Foundation? How did you hear about the organization? I actually had found out about The Foundation via Instagram and was immediately drawn to Amanda’s story and her goals for The Foundation. I ended up emailing her, we met for coffee where I expressed my interest in helping out and the rest is history! 

Fashion Foundation Chief of Volunteers, Paige

Can you give us a brief description of your job responsibilities at The Foundation? What are some of the recent activities you have worked on for The FF? As of late it has been a lot of pushing for ticket sales and gaining sponsorships. A major priority of The Fashion Foundation is still to spread the word seeing that we are still a startup. So my responsibilities at this point are a combination of the above. 

What’s your favorite part about being a volunteer? My favorite part of being a volunteer for The Fashion Foundation is getting involved with something that is so important to the future of our Nation. Bettering the education of our youths through providing school supplies does not get the coverage that it should on a day to day basis. My personal favorite is the fact that I get to mix my love for fashion while helping those who can’t always help themselves. 

Why did you choose The Foundation? In your opinion, what separates The Foundation from any other charitable nonprofit organization? I loved that it was a small startup nonprofit that was local and had big dreams and intentions to better the lives of others. 

What are some of the things you wish to accomplish personally through your involvement with The Foundation? I have not yet been able to attend a donation day at a school since I work full time, but that is definitely something I would like to personally accomplish. Getting to see the children’s faces and spend some time with them would definitely add to this experience. 

Looking forward, what are some of the things you wish to do to help The Foundation achieve its goal of helping children in need? I’m hoping that in the future I can aid in making these events that we plan well known and larger than life. 

Lastly, can you give our readers a reason why participating and/or donating to The Foundation is worth their while. Have you ever had a teacher who didn’t have chalk to teach their students with? Or maybe you couldn’t afford your textbooks or notebooks that school year? Well these are the problems we are solving. You can’t succeed in the school system without those things. Teachers and students alike, and we at The Fashion Foundation would like to change that so our next generations are as bright and amazing as ever.

On behalf of all of us at the Fashion Foundation, thank you, Paige, for your contributions and your time to help us make the world a better place for children!

Paige (center) volunteering at last year's Foundation Fundraiser!

To view our team page and learn a little bit about all of us here at the Fashion Foundation, click here! 

And remember, it's not too late to purchase your ticket for the 2015 Fall into Fashion Fundraiser on Sep. 26 in NYC! But hurry, tickets are selling quickly! Click here to purchase your ticket today!

Be sure to stay tuned for our next installment of our Behind the Lines series! Thanks for stopping by!

If you'd like to make a donation, click here!

Holly Anne Silva is one of the Fashion Foundation's passionate bloggers and chief of writing. Fervent about giving back, Holly volunteers for a number of local nonprofit organizations; she is a kennel attendant at the Heart and Soul Animal Rescue of Long Island and the creatures division editor for the Ian Somerhalder Foundation. She is a senior newsletter editor for a major branding and publishing company, and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Hofstra University. In her spare time, she freelances as a makeup artist. Holly is also working on establishing her own nonprofit organization dedicated to animal welfare, called the Sammy and Milo Foundation.

Behind the Lines: An Interview With the Host Committee

The Fashion Foundation Host Committee!

Oh, how lovely it is to be back! After a bit of a hiatus from writing, we are proud to bring you some new updates and information regarding The Fashion Foundation, along with a special interview with one of The Foundation's host committee members!

Don't mistake our time off from this blog as a time of unproductiveness—as a matter of fact—our founder Amanda and the rest of the volunteers have been working extra hard to organize upcoming events for the fall season, while preparing for clothing drops and school supply donations. 

Speaking of the fall, be sure to mark your calendars for Saturday, September 26th's "Fall Into Fashion Fundraiser" at the TAJ Lounge in NYC. There will be food, an open bar, DJ, raffles and much more as The Foundation aims to raise money to buy school supplies for students in need. If you'd like to find out more about the event, you can click the link here.

There's many things to get excited about as we head into the final stretch of the summer, but the main purpose of this week's post is to shine some light on one of the volunteers that works behind the scenes to help The Foundation execute all the special things that it can. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to a special member of the host committee, Ms. Megan Melofchik (cue the rapid round of applause).

Megan is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in Fashion Merchandising. She works full time for Nine West Group as a Product Development Associate, and through her employment there, she has been able to provide various donations from Nine West to The Fashion Foundation. We thank Megan for her selfless dedication to our cause; she is one of the many talented people who make what we do possible. 

She agreed without hesitation to participate in an online interview with me, and through her intelligent answers, you will see as to why Megan is a perfect fit for The Fashion Foundation. Enjoy!

Can you please provide a brief description of yourself for our readers? (Hobbies, college(s) attended: major, minor, year graduated; what you’d like to do for your career).

I graduated from the University of Delaware in 2013 with a degree in Fashion Merchandising. For my career, I see myself becoming a director of product development and hopefully one day retiring with a boutique in a beach town (preferably in California). For hobbies: I like to paint, and I recently started getting into running. I have a few races with the NYRR (New York Road Runners) coming up this summer and fall.

Megan (third from the right) and the rest of the
 Host Committee with our founder Amanda.

What is your daytime job and what is your position/title at The Fashion Foundation?

I started working for The Jones Group (now Nine West Group) a week after I graduated, and I just celebrated my two year anniversary with the company. My first year I did product development for jewelry and now I’m in the handbags department.

I am on the events committee for The Fashion Foundation. I also volunteer and help procure product for the website. I have been able to donate over 200 bags from Nine West to The Fashion Foundation.

How did you become involved with The Foundation? How did you hear about them?

I met Amanda through a Levo League networking event. We then met for coffee, and I learned more about The Fashion Foundation. I immediately wanted to get involved. That week, I donated about 100 handbags from Nine West. After that, Amanda invited me to join the committee for the fundraiser this September.

Can you give us a brief description of your job responsibilities at The Foundation? What are some of the recent activities you have worked on for The FF?

I have been working to help plan the event this coming fall—helping sell tickets, procure raffle donations, meeting up for our weekly meetings, etc.

What’s your favorite part about being on the Host Committee?

I love being a part of an organization that makes a difference. Working in fashion, you can easily get caught up in how materialistic the industry can sometimes be—arguing over the right blues or handle lengths of a purse. Volunteering for The Fashion Foundation helps keep me grounded and puts everything into perspective. I like that the handbags Nine West donates don’t go to waste and that they go to help fund school supplies and make a difference in a student’s education right here in NYC.

Why did you choose The Foundation? In your opinion, what separates The Foundation from any other charitable non-profit organization?

I chose to volunteer with The Fashion Foundation because it marries my love for fashion with my love for charitable work. I love how we can use the fashion industry to make a difference and give back to students.

Can you name a moment during your involvement with The Foundation that was really special to you as a person? Whether it was your experience working with other host committee members, participating in an event, witnessing a donation, etc.

I loved how excited Amanda was when I gave her a huge box of 150 Nine West handbags and how appreciative she was. That felt pretty awesome. I am also looking forward to the fundraiser in September and having all of my friends and family there to see what a great organization I am involved with—it will be a special moment.

What are some of the things you wish to accomplish personally through your involvement with The Foundation?

I hope to help The Foundation grow so that other companies like Nine West will donate their excess samples to a great cause and not to waste.

Looking forward, what are some of the things you wish to do to help The Foundation achieve its goal of helping children in need?

I want to help The Fashion Foundation get more recognized so their impact can go further and help more schools in NYC and maybe one day even grow nationally. That would be pretty amazing.

Lastly, can you give our readers a reason why participating and/or donating to The Foundation is worth their while.

I think Nelson Mandela put it best when he said: “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.” I think it is important to supply students with the tools they need to succeed, because the students today will shape our tomorrow.

Megan on her first day of Kindergarten!

Once again, The Fashion Foundation would like to thank Megan for this interview and for all that she does and will continue to do for The Foundation. With her help, we will continue to succeed in our mission to help the students who need it the most.

Don’t forget to follow The Fashion Foundation on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and of course, don't forget to donate to our website at www.thefashionfoundation.org. Till next time!

Joseph A. Jungermann is a freelance copy editor and blogger for The Fashion Foundation. He also authors his own personal blog, titled: “A Tuesday Afternoon.” He is the founder of the copy editing company: Elemental Edit, which provides content editing services for students, professionals, and small businesses. Joe obtained his Bachelors of Arts in English at Stony Brook University through their honor’s college in December of 2013. As a passionate reader, writer, and aspiring entrepreneur, he also enjoys playing guitar, reading poetry, and spending time with family and friends. 

The Beginning of it All: A Year Later, The Fashion Foundation Thanks PS 325

On June 13, 2014, The Fashion Foundation completed its first-ever donation to PS 325 and its 276 students in Harlem, NY. Now, 365 days later, we pay tribute to the moment that helped jump start our organization’s mission to help students in need.

Thousands of school supplies donated and four partnering schools later, The Foundation has matured into a promising non-profit organization that’s here to make an impact. We thank PS 325 for helping us build on our reputation as a reputable, charitable organization, and also contributing to the start of our spreading support.

In honor of this anniversary, we’d like to recap our first donation with PS 325 and reflect on how that wonderful moment has contributed to what The Foundation is today:

 

The Beginning…

• On May 8^th, 2014, The Fashion Foundation met with the administrative staff at PS 325—an elementary school in a high-poverty area in Harlem, NY.  The school consisted of about 300 students from grades K-5 who were in need of our help.

• Our Founder, Amanda Munz, reached out to the Assistant Principal and asked, “What do your students need?” Excited, he told Amanda that the school was about to participate in their annual “Travel the World Day,” where each classroom is assigned a different country that they must research. The students would create poster-board presentations and decorate their classroom according to which country was issued to them.

• But there was one problem; the students in PS 325 did not have the art supplies to execute the assignments. This created an opportunity for The Foundation to help.

• With sales from its website, The Fashion Foundation was able to raise approximately $1,500 to purchase art supplies: Paint, glue sticks, paper, scissors and markers were among the items donated.

• The Foundation and our founder, Amanda, were invited and privileged to spend the entire day at PS 325 during Travel the World Day. The students had lovely decorations and posters on display, and food and drinks were shared by all.

Here are some photos from that fantastic event:

We thank PS 325 for trusting in us that day and maintaining this rewarding partnership. Of course, our growth within this year could not be possible without our supporters also. We thank everyone who has donated to The Foundation, and we are forever grateful for the volunteers who have sacrificed their time to helping set-up charity events, pop-up shops and other important affairs.

As we continue to build on this momentum, we ask that you share our mission with friends and family. A wise partner of The Foundation has stated previously, “Maybe [we] haven’t changed the world (yet), but to have made a difference in changing a life for even one person makes it easier to start again tomorrow.”

As always, don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can donate by visiting our site @ www.thefashionfoundation.org. Take care fellow blogg-ians!

Joseph A. Jungermann is a freelance copy editor and blogger for The Fashion Foundation. He also authors his own personal blog, titled: “A Tuesday Afternoon.” He is the founder of the copy editing company: Elemental Edit, which provides content editing services for students, professionals, and small businesses. Joe obtained his Bachelors of Arts in English at Stony Brook University through their honor’s college in December of 2013. As a passionate reader, writer, and aspiring entrepreneur, he also enjoys playing guitar and spending time with family and friends.