When Oak Park residents Anne and Kate Pezalla opened their store Lively Athletics, an essential component of their business model was to give back to their community, and they have stayed true to that mission ever since. Located on Oak Park Avenue, Lively Athletics offers fashionable athletic and lifestyle apparel for women, as well as athletic shoes for kids. When their employee Rowe Balmer – one of this year’s Hephzibah Heart Print Award winners approached them with an idea to fit the kids from the group home with shoes from their newly opened kid’s shoe department, Anne and Kate, jumped on the idea. They joined forces with the local Best Foot Forward Running Group, and in the past year, they have fitted dozens of children from the group home with a new pair of shoes, free of charge.
Lively Athletics is excited to present another opportunity that will benefit Hephzibah. On Thursday, November 16, they will hold a Fall Fashion Show at their store, 109 N. Oak Park Avenue, and 100 percent of all ticket sales will benefit Hephzibah. Attendees will have the opportunity to check out the latest looks for yoga, running, tennis and casual wear and models will be wearing apparel from top brands. Guests can socialize, enjoy drinks (compliments of Oak Park Brewing Company) and snacks (thanks to Spilt Milk), and learn great tips on staying active in the winter months. Anne Kreiter, sports producer for NBC 5 Chicago, will emcee the event.
“We have lived in Oak Park our whole lives, and feel lucky to have grown up in a town where an organization like Hephzibah exists and does such great work,” says Anne, who volunteered as a big sister at Hephzibah when she was a student at Oak Park River Forest High School. “We’re very excited to have this partnership with Hephzibah.”
Attendees will receive a complimentary $20 shopping pass, swag bag and refreshments, and the full ticket price to attend ($25) will be donated to Hephzibah. It is a great opportunity to do some holiday shopping, socialize and support Hephzibah. Tickets can be purchased by visiting livelyfashionshow.bpt.me/
