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Paint it Forward fundraiser held for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

wine and design
EN Illustration / Audrey Mobley

October is the month of pumpkin patches and Halloween parties, but amidst all the fun, one organization is striving to bring awareness to a horrifying disease. On Oct. 16, Wine and Design of Fort Myers held a “Paint it Forward” fundraiser to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Wine & Design is an art studio that provides a variety of art and sip parties for all ages and groups. Tickets were $35 per person and 25 percent of the proceeds went to Susan G. Komen Southwest Florida, a well-known organization whose mission is to save the lives of people with breast cancer through research.

wine and design
EN Illustration / Audrey Mobley

The event, which was somewhat similar to a group art class, gave participants the chance to paint the Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon on top of a pink chevron background, while enjoying a glass of wine and snacks.
The event was open to people of all artistic talent, and was purely for fun with the goal of raising awareness and gathering donations for the organization.
“It’s very important to us that we give back to the community,” Lauren Brant, owner of Wine & Design, said. “Because we are a business, we have a lot of contacts and this helps us to get more people to participate.”
“We also have several different Paint it Forward events every year, each time helping out a different local organizations,” Brant said. “Once a month we even host a Paint Your Pet event.”
According to Brant, Paint Your Pet is one of their most popular events of the year and part of the proceeds goes directly to the Gulf Coast Humane Society.
“It’s a great way to have fun while making a difference,” Brant said. “We help out any good organization that reaches out to us.”
So far, Wine and Dine has created programs for many of their popular requests, such as: Birthday Parties, Bachelorette Parties, Baby Showers, Girl’s Night Out, Romantic Couples Night, and Fun Friends Outing. They also plan to host several more Paint it Forward events for the month of October, including another one to continue raising funds for the Susan G. Komen foundation on Oct. 20.
“We will have a Paint Your Pet event at 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 6 and the proceeds there will go to the Gulf Coast Humane Society.”
Aside from those two organizations, Brant explains that she is also willing to bring awareness and raise funds to help students at FGCU if needed.
“We are always happy to help any non-profit organization at Florida Gulf Coast University. As long as they contact us and explain what their organization is about we can approve it and host a Paint it Forward event for them.”
To sign up for a class or to find out about more upcoming events, visit the Wine & Design’s website.

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