By Crystal Harrell
On Thursday, October 12, Amy’s Purpose will hold a Fashion Show & Luncheon at Agua Caliente Resort, Casino, and Spa in Rancho Mirage on Bob Hope Drive from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will honor one of the desert’s favorite restaurateurs, Willie Rhine, and his loyal pup, Ali.
The public is invited to meet and greet friends at a reception in the foyer with a lineup of vendors, as well as an Amy’s Treasures silent auction. Board Event Chair, Elaine Church, along with Fashion Show Co-Chairs, Jo Ann Horwitz and Linda Williamson, are planning an over-the-top exciting event.
The luncheon and fashion show, featuring popular local ladies and gentlemen, along with their furry pets, will commence in the ballroom—modeling fashions by Summer Colony Living El Paseo. Mistress of Ceremonies is Patti Gribow and fashion show commentators are Elaine Church and Patrick Evans.
Amy’s Purpose is an education 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to coyote and predator awareness and promoting safety information to help protect beloved pets. Its mission comprises community-based education outreach programs; local student scholarship veterinary assistance scholarships to help rectify current emergency veterinarian care crisis; and offer individuals pet loss grief counseling.
Amy’s Purpose was founded in 2020 during the pandemic by DeAnn Lubell, after her beloved dog Amy was killed by coyotes at her home. Despite the overwhelming grief, Lubell took action to warn others of the dangers of predators and to offer grief counseling. The first fundraiser held by Amy’s purpose was a concert held at the Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs last September.
“Last year’s fundraiser was one hundred percent total success. We decided this year to try to do our first fashion show luncheon. We have a lineup of incredible local dignitaries and philanthropic people who are either supporting it or are models In the ballroom, our event chair is Elaine Church, and she’s been a part of this from the very beginning and we’re just thrilled to have co-chairs and producers Joanne Horwitz and Linda Williamson. They’ve been working very, very hard behind the scenes,” explained Lubell.
Amy’s Purpose’s line-up of models for the fashion show luncheon includes Zach Harner, Fred (the Hammer) Williamson, Prince Fleet Eastin, Frank DiSalvo, Craig Prater, Lindi Biggi, Karen Devine, Melissa Neiderman, Terri Neuman, Judie Brown and Teri Anderson.
The fashion show luncheon will also feature over 10 vendors in the foyer—coming in as far away as Beverly Hills— providing something for everyone during the reception area.
David Sullivan is the production manager of the event that has worked in the industry for years, and Lubell credits him as an incredible addition to the team.
A special promotional video about Amy’s purpose will also be played during the luncheon—made by Larry Pedersen. Originally, the video was going to be put together by Leanna Bonamici, who was the founder and a president of the local chapter of Palm Springs Women in Film & Television (PSWIFT). After her passing in July, Pedersen volunteered to create the video, being one of the people that Leanna had worked with a lot over the years. The video was produced by Lubell, narrated by Patti Gribow and edited by Larry Pedersen.
“It’s really a beautiful video. We’re also going to have a little tribute slide show showing respect to Leanna, and Dan McGath will introduce that. We’ve asked Mike Phipps Russell, who is the executive Director of Loving All Animals, to be our our escort for the models and other things. He’s been an amazing supporter and I don’t know what we would have done without his advice. He’s just been phenomenal,” shared Lubell.
Not only is it a priority to provide a quality entertainment show for the public, but the main goal will always be to bring awareness to Amy’s purpose. As a result to the continuous effort of bringing awareness to the crisis of the vet tech and veterinarian assistant shortage that’s been going on since the pandemic, Amy’s Purpose has put through its 18th scholarship recipient within a year. Some of the graduates supported by Amy’s Purpose have already gone on and to be hired by local veterinarian clinics and hospitals—establishing it as an extremely successful program.
Another successful milestone for Amy’s Purpose, and a dream of Lubell’s, is coming to fruition with the help of Dan McGath, a professional radio talk show host who has been in the Coachella Valley for decades. He has agreed to do a half-hour program for Amy’s Purpose that will be streamed on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook Live—available for repeat viewing this January.
“This will not be just like any other fashion show. It has its own niche and it’s helping to save pet lives and also the inspiring lives of those who are interested in veterinary science and medicine.
We’re going on to fill the gap that’s needed to bring awareness to all of our missions and to let people have a good time and support Amy’s Purpose. We’re here to help people and their pets. It’s all about safety and survival,” said Lubell.
General tables of 10 are $100 per person at the fashion show luncheon. Limited VIP runway tables of 8 are also available for $1000 per table. For more information, please call DeAnn Lubell at 760-831-3090. For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit http://amyspurpose.net/events-1 or go to www.amyspurpose.net.
