WOW High Tea Fashion Show benefits transplant fund
CONTRIBUTED
The community is rallying around Darlene Sanders, whos wait for a kidney transplant predates her arrival in the Highland Lakes with the Smoking for Jesus Ministry (SJM) as they fled Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She still is part of the congregation that has found anew home between Burnet and Kingsland in Burnet County. A fashion show Saturday, April 2, will contribute to a fund for her.
BY GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH
A Women of Wisdom (WOW) High Tea Fashion Show at Marble Falls First United Methodist Church, 1101 Bluebonnet Drive, this Saturday, April 2, will be an event about style with a serious goal.
It will be sponsored from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. by the WOW women's group of Smoking for Jesus Miistry (SJM) to benefit the South-Central Kidney Transplant Fund and local resident Darlene Sanders.
“The event is two-fold,” said Julie Tumblin, an organizer of the event. “We do want ladies to enjoy a high tea, with its little sandwiches and pastries and tea. We hope they will wear their own favorite fashions and hats to style for one another.”
The children's style show is expected to be a special treat.
The second aspect of the tea is fundraising.
In 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita set the congregation of the Smoking for Jesus Church on the road to Marble Falls and eventually to their current home between Burnet and Kingsland, Sanders already was on a kidney transplant list.
“She has been a member of Smoking for Jesus for 20 years and she evacuated out with us,” said Tumblin, a fellow church member and friend of Sanders' family. “You are never supposed to stay on dialysis 20 years. Now Darlene is waiting at the top of the list and we want to be ready to support her at St. David's Medical Center in Austin.”
“Darlene grew up in Chicago, Illinois, but her family later relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana,” Tumblin explained. “It was there she met and fell in love with her high school sweetheart, Everett Sanders.”
The couple married had five children—Everett Jr, Chrissy, Sidney, Eric and Quinton.
“One of Darlene’s greatest joys is to spend time with her four grandchildren and see their little faces light up with excitement every time they come into her loving arms,” said Tumblin. “However, without a new kidney, Darlene will lose the opportunity to spend time with her family, and grandchildren.”
Before becoming ill, Sanders worked in the hospitality industry in various positions of service. In spite of her condition, she still loves to serve and help others as best she can, encouraging others around her to keep positive and hope for the best. In the Smoking for Jesus Ministry, she is on the Praise Team and serves as a Sunday school teacher in the children’s ministry. Her compassion is to serve and encourage others to trust God.
“After many years of helping others, Darlene is now the one who needs our help,” said Tumblin.
The price of tickets to the WOW High Tea event are $10 for adults to age 13 and $5 for children age 7-12. They will be available at the door, but Tumblin also will arrange for individual or group tickets. Call her at 504-251-4744.
The fundraising is being conducted in conjunction with HelpHOPELive.org. More information is available at that web address, by calling, 800-642-8399, or visiting the SJM website, www.smokingforjesusministry.org.
