{"id":1146,"date":"2017-10-27T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1146"},"modified":"2017-10-23T16:57:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T20:57:36","slug":"fashion-food-and-philanthropy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1146","title":{"rendered":"Fashion, Food and Philanthropy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fashion with a Purpose\u00a0<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Lisa Marie Butler | Photography provided by Syracuse Fashion Week\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re reading this magazine over morning coffee, on a work break or on a treadmill at the gym, please remember one thing: there is a human being less than one mile from you who doesn\u2019t know where his or her next meal is coming from.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sad truth we often forget as we pursue our busy lives. Even sadder is the fact that these people are the most vulnerable in our community. They are elderly, ill, poor, young or simply working folks who have trouble making ends meet. I find this to be unacceptable. A few years ago, I decided to do something in my small way to affect change in my community.<\/p>\n

My \u201ca-ha\u201d moment was in December 2013. After presenting individual fashion shows for quite a few years, including Syracuse Style, Syracuse Snarl and others, I was Fashion, Food and Philanthropy By Lisa Marie Butler ready to take the plunge for an entire week of fashion events. I had just begun preliminary plans for the inaugural season of Syracuse Fashion Week.<\/p>\n

Between gathering a committee, researching designers and boutiques, looking for sponsors and searching for venues, I heard about an interesting documentary film entitled, \u201cA Place at the Table.\u201d What caught my attention was the fact that it was executive produced by Tom Colicchio, celebrity restaurateur and judge of one of my favorite TV reality shows, \u201cTop Chef.\u201d I didn\u2019t know exactly what the plot or premise was, but thought I\u2019d give it a chance. The film changed my life.<\/p>\n

Please see it. You\u2019ll learn about hunger and food insecurity in America. You\u2019ll meet children who go to school hungry, and then wonder why they can\u2019t focus and learn. You\u2019ll see elderly people who worked all their life, and now have to make a choice between food and medicine. You\u2019ll see how one unlucky life event, like losing a job or getting sick, has a dire ripple effect on families. You\u2019ll see inner-city residents who live in a food desert. As it did for me, the film will open your eyes.<\/p>\n

Among the plans for Syracuse Fashion Week, I wanted to raise funds for a local organization. In past events, I\u2019d partnered with a couple of local charities to raise a few hundred dollars for them. But after seeing the film, I realized that going forward, my goal was to help feed hungry people. Humans have a few essential needs; shelter, clothing and food are the most basic of them. Somehow, in my mind, food and fashion simply clicked.<\/p>\n

My next move was to implement my goal. I looked around the websites of quite a few charities and discovered the Food Bank of Central New York. I contacted Lynn Hy, the director of philanthropic giving, and explained my plan. After a meeting and tour of the facility, my plans crystalized. Syracuse Fashion Week would raise funds and awareness for the Food Bank. And, as they say, the rest is history.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s with enormous pride on behalf of me, my team, our sponsors and audiences that we can say in the four years of Syracuse Fashion Week events, we\u2019ve fed thousands upon thousands of Central New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cphilanthropy\u201d has its roots in ancient Greek, and means love of mankind. I was raised by a wonderful Greek woman. Like many old-school mothers, life revolved around three meals a day, family dinners and holidays that involved cooking for a week. She believed food was more than mere survival. It was love.<\/p>\n

I believe fashion is more than just clothes. It\u2019s art and culture. And I believe Syracuse Fashion Week is more than entertainment. It\u2019s community \u2014 art, culture, community and love. Without adequate food, none of these higher aspirations of civilization are possible.<\/p>\n

So, please take a minute and think about the hungry person a mile away from you. And, if possible, help them out. SWM<\/em><\/p>\n

Lisa Marie Butler is the executive director of Syracuse Fashion Week. For more information, visit syracusefashionweek.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fashion with a Purpose\u00a0 By Lisa Marie Butler | Photography provided by Syracuse Fashion Week\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re reading this magazine over morning coffee, on a work break or on a treadmill at the gym, please remember one thing: there is a human being less than one mile from you who doesn\u2019t know where his or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[401,399,402,398,262,421],"class_list":["post-1146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","tag-food-bank-of-central-new-york","tag-lisa-marie-butler","tag-november-2017","tag-syracuse-fashion-week","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine","tag-the-philanthropy-edition"],"gutentor_comment":1,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_0781-1.jpg?fit=5200%2C3420&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2320,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2320","url_meta":{"origin":1146,"position":0},"title":"SPECIAL FEATURE: Syracuse Fashion Week","author":"Sarah Hall","date":"April 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"For Lisa Butler, there\u2019s more to fashion than looking good. \u201cFashion is wearable art,\u201d Butler said. \u201cIt\u2019s a form of self-expression. Even when you\u2019re not choosing to be fashionable, you\u2019re expressing yourself.\u201d That\u2019s why she believes fashion shouldn\u2019t be considered frivolous \u2014 and why she launched Syracuse Fashion Week. 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