❒ Annual show benefits Community Action Council, meals program

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

“The Great Gatsby,” the Roaring Twenties novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald — and more recently, the Warner Brothers movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire — is the inspiration for this year’s Community Action Council’s annual fashion show and luncheon.

The event, which will benefit the CAC’s senior meals program, will be Wednesday at the Benicia Clock Tower, said Michele Hughes, CAC board member and fundraiser chairperson.

MAYOR Elizabeth Patterson will once again participate in the CAC fashion show.
File photo

Hughes said more than a dozen models will wear fashions provided by Claudia Mahrt’s Be Chic Boutique, 309 First St., and Christina Strawbridge’s Christina S Fashion Destination, 370 First St.

Many of the models are local and regional officials, such as Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, she said.

Hughes said the luncheon raises money for the CAC’s senior meals program, which serves lunches to Benicia’s older residents at the Benicia Senior Center, 187 East L St., and delivers meals to those who aren’t able to travel.

CAC, 480 Military East, has been providing those meals and multiple other services to low-income Benicia residents since 1967, Hughes said. The nonprofit refers residents to other helpful programs.

Either in partnership with other agencies or on its own, the CAC helps economically disadvantaged residents with automobiles, employment counseling, clothing, homeless assistance and other services.

Information about the meals program is published as “Friends in Need” every Friday in The Herald.

The nonprofit’s website is www.bencac.com, and it can be reached at 707-745-0900.

Last year, the agency helped 510 families, “more than 1,000 people,” Hughes said. She said the luncheon is on Administrative Professionals’ Day, formerly known as Secretaries’ Day, and “we hope people will bring their administrative assistants.”

Admission is $35 per person for the fashion show and luncheon, catered by Randy Ramos of 907 Grill, 907 First St. Tickets are available at Be Chic Boutique, Christina S, the CAC, by calling Hughes at 707-373-7571 and at the Clock Tower door.

The fashion show is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. April 24 at the Benicia Clock Tower, 1189 Washington St.

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