Fundraiser to help support Rape and Abuse Crisis Center goes virtual

Celebrating with fashion, entertainment and friends. On the surface, that seems to embody what the fundraising event presented by My Best Friend’s Closet boutique of Fargo is all about.

“Before, we’ve always held it at the Fargo Country Club with a dinner. It’s always been sold out, 250 people,” explains My Best Friend’s Closet owner Glenda Haugen.

A gathering of that size, including a fashion show and silent auction, is deemed unsafe during the pandemic.

Haugen says the fundraiser is far too important to pass up, even if some components, like the fashion show, have to look a little different.

“We filmed [the fashion show] a couple Sundays ago,” she says. “It will be only 10 models as opposed to the 20 that we usually have with an event.”

The virtual show will be held Thursday and features clothing from Haugen’s boutique, which she used to own with her daughter Meredith.

“My daughter passed away in 2007, and she had been a volunteer with Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, and she had a degree in child psychology and was planning on working with children that had been abused,” Haugen recalls.

After her passing, money from Meredith’s memorial was donated to the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center to build the Meredith Haugen Play Therapy Room.

Since then, the annual Fabulous Fashion & Friends event has raised money to help support that space.

“Helping a child process trauma is of course different than helping an adult process trauma, and one of the ways that children do that is to play,” says RACC CEO Dr. Christopher Johnson.

Playing in the room and visiting with counselors helps children find ways to begin healing and even prepares them to testify in court.

Helping these children is what the Fabulous Fashion & Friends fundraiser is all about.

“Without the community’s support, us and our nonprofit partners would be in really tough shape,” adds Johnson. “This community shows up.”

It’s not too late to purchase a ticket and help support the event.