The Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas in Conway knows a thing or two about women, and its board of directors created a fundraiser that focuses on a day of relaxation and fun.
The Great Escape is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Conway Expo Center, 2505 E. Oak St. Tickets are $5 each.
Board member Lorie Yates-Dodson said the event is especially significant this year because it’s the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas.
“We would love for people to donate $20 in honor of that milestone,” she said. “They can do so at the ticket website of greatescape
conway.eventbrite.com.”
She said vendors at The Great Escape will sell items that include clothing, jewelry, makeup, wreaths and more. Boxed lunches will be for sale, containing either hot dogs or smoked sausages with chips, a cookie and a drink.
A highlight of the event is the service providers, who will offer manicures, pedicures, massages, haircuts and styles, makeovers and more for $10. All proceeds will go to the shelter.
Free services offered from a variety of providers will include glucose screenings, blood-pressure checks, cholesterol checks, breast-health information, personality screenings, CPR training, fibromyalgia checks and spinal assessments.
A silent auction will include “a list of great items to bid on that is still growing,” Yates-Dodson said. “One amazing item we have for the auction is four Park Hopper tickets to Disney,” she said. “That would be worth coming out by itself. There are other amusement-park tickets to bid on, as well as gift certificates, jewelry [and more].”
Taylor Watts of Conway, a board member and event chairwoman, came up with the idea and landed the Walt Disney World tickets.
“I listed everything I wanted to do if I were going to bid on an auction,” she said, including going to the theme park. “I wrote an essay and filled out like 10 pages of an application,” Watts said. She also has a zip-lining trip for the auction. “I am so excited about the auction. I think it’s going to come together really nicely.”
The shelter’s broken-china jewelry will be for sale, too. A group of volunteers create pendants from pieces of broken china and package the jewelry to sell year-round.
Watts also said the event will have more vendors than in past years, and additional hairstylists have volunteered their time. Plus, a style show will feature the latest fashion trends from area stores.
She said vendor space is still available and can be reserved by calling her at (501) 428-1166.
Yates-Dodson said The Great Escape is a perfect opportunity for women to get together for a “girls’ day out, have some fun and also support a great cause.”
“As women, we tend to feel bad when we spend money on ourselves, but with The Great Escape, you can spend money on yourself and feel great about it because it is helping women in need,” Yates-Dodson said.
Watts said she wants people to understand “this is going to be a big thing. … It’s going to be worth their time and worth $5.”
The Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas has provided assistance to victims of family violence in central Arkansas since 1995. The organization started as a volunteer information hotline and has grown into a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week hotline and a shelter that houses abused women and their children. The shelter also includes a Sexual Assault Assistance/Recovery Program; support groups; transportation for clients; and personal, legal and child-advocacy programs. The crisis hotline number is (866) 358-2265.
For more information about The Great Escape, go to the shelter’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/wscagreatescape, or call (501) 358-6219. Tickets are available online at greatescapeconway.eventbrite.com, or at several locations in Conway, as well as the Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas’ executive office, 505 Amity Road, Suite 501.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.