Matthew 25’s “Runway Red” is off to a record-breaking start and there’s still more than a week before the organization’s signature fundraising event, which occurs March 16.
Rachel Trout, outreach and development coordinator for Matthew 25, said the organization hopes to raise $35,000 this year, which would be about $8,000 more than last year.
The money funds Matthew 25’s mission to support those living with HIV and now, those affected by HIV in some manner, said Trout.
The services Matthew 25 offers are wide-ranging, including free HIV testing, diagnosis and treatment, linkage to care, insurance premium and co-pay assistance and counseling and support groups, and more, according to information from the organization. Trout said the organization supports urgent client needs and eliminates any barriers to getting medical help a client may have.
The care “varies for individuals,” Trout said. One aim is to get all clients to an undetectable (HIV) level, she said. She also said that the clinic can now help those who don’t have HIV but have a close connection to someone who does, such as a partner.
This year, the event for the first time will be at the Preston Arts Center on the Henderson Community College campus. The past two years, it was held at the Lumberyard, which was a good venue but didn’t have enough room for it to grow, Trout said.
In 2022, 320 guests came to the event, and $22,000 was raised; in 2023, 371 guests came to the event, and $27,000 was raised, Trout said.
This year is already bigger. Trout said Tuesday afternoon the number of tickets sold was 528. And there’s room for more—the PAC holds 950-plus.
Trout said the event used to be held at Community Baptist Church on a Saturday at brunch. The time and place of the event limited the number of attendees, and officials at Matthew 25 had considered trying something different to raise funds.
But after two years without the event (2020 and 2021) because of COVID, Matthew 25 officials decided to keep it, in part because it had been around for years and was “easily recognizable” for the public, Trout said. They made some changes, moving it to the Lumberyard, a bigger venue that is able to serve alcohol, and holding it in the evening, she said.
The focus of the event is always the fashion show, which this year includes more than 30 people from around town as well as six children who will model clothes from 11 local shops, said Trout.
Preceding the fashion show is a VIP dinner at $50 a plate and a cap at 300, which Trout said is already sold out. That starts at 5 p.m.
At 6 p.m., there will be cocktail hour, a silent auction and photo opportunities. At 7 p.m., the fashion show begins. Tickets, at $40, are still available for the 6 p.m.- and 7 p.m.-events.
A fun piece of the event is a fundraising competition in which people who buy tickets type in the name of the model who referred them to the event. The model who raises the most is crowned queen of the runway, and gets a final walk on the runway, a crown, flowers and bragging rights, said Trout.
Matthew 25 began in Henderson in 1996, growing out of a volunteer organization at Zion United Church of Christ and founder Cyndee Burton. There are now locations in Evansville, Owensboro and Bowling Green, and those clinics serve a total of 25 counties in Kentucky and Indiana, Trout said.
Of fundraising and support, Trout said, “Henderson is by far the most giving and supportive.”
For more information, go to: https://donorbox.org/events/537275?utm_medium=qrcode&utm_source=qrcode
Boutiques participating:
Elite Downtown, The Olive Leaf, Olive + Mae Boutique, Radiant Sun Boutique, Falcon Creek Boutique, A Wild Hare Boutique (Morganfield), Sweet Peas, Tip Top Design Company, Ria Jai Boutique (Evansville), LandyLane Boutique and Beach Bum Farms
Models:
Vera Williams, Darlene Marshall-Ware, Atinuke Wilhite, Missy Vanderpool, Sarah Bryant, Andrea Roberts, Michelle Chappell, Teri Collins, Madison Krampe, Melinda Luntsford, Abbie Walters, April Johnson, Elizabeth Tappan, Holli Blanford, Megan McCarnan Whitledge, Dr. Amber Koon, Eloise Laramie, Olivia Trout, Linda White, Brittany Loveless, Tennille Oliver, Dr. Kate Baker, Mi’Oshi Holloway, Gelina Mascoe, Kelsey Hargis, Tori Todd, Charlotte Hamilton, Christine Oreyo, Alyssa Mattingly, Ange Humphrey, Ellie Odum, Renley Odum and Ike McKee