By B&TF

Note: When I write reports from different events I attend, I try to bring in my own personality and humor. I share my observations and try to describe everything in a way that my readers can visualize things as I saw them, without being there physically. I hope I didn’t fail and you can see what a wonderful event it was and how much I enjoyed being a part of it.

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I’m not a person with a sense of fashion or an ability to match colors. I wear what feels comfortable, fits me in a slightly loose way, and occasionally complements my blue eyes. I’m a jeans and a shirt kind of girl. To dress up for me means to put on black slacks, ironed shirt and flavored lip balm.

When I first heard about Fount of Mercy and their Sewing Hope Fashion Show through Liza Morgan’s twitter, it seemed like a very interesting event. Fashion combined with a fundraiser for a wonderful cause seemed like even more exciting. I checked Fount of Mercy’s website to learn more about their programs and mission and I was genuinely surprised at their approach to combine the fashion world and the needs of one community.

Two days prior to the Fashion Show I attended a Liberty Hill Foundation Award Dinner in Los Angeles and their motto was “Change. Not charity.” I really liked it because sometimes charity implies just that – “I give you money because I can and you are helpless.” What I like about foundations like Liberty Hill, Fount of Mercy or Mia Kirshner’s I Live Here Foundation, is that they are raising money to make a change in people’s lives, to help them helping themselves to be more successful with what they have, to give them a future and hope.

Photo courtesy of Liza Morgan

You can find out more about Fount of Mercy and their Sewing Hope program here www.sewinghope.net but read my interview with Tara Hawks, director of Sewing Hope, to find out how this program was born and to what purpose.

I flew to New York Saturday morning, had lunch with a friend, and changed into my fanciest dressing clothes (black slacks, black shirt, white tie…well, the tie was gone by the time the show had began but you got the idea of my fashion style and sense). I went to the club Touch where the event was being held to meet Liza Morgan, an actress, former nanny, Sewing Hope’s PR, a good friend of Laurel Holloman and altogether a very nice person.

Photo courtesy of Liza Morgan

It was relatively quiet while the models were resting after their first rehearsals and before the whole hair/make up hoopla started. We had a chance to talk a little about Liza’s involvement with Sewing Hope, her career, The L Word and her friendship with Laurel.

Interview with Liza Morgan

B&TF: How did you get involved with the Fount of Mercy and Sewing Hope?

LM: Tara Hawks, the director and founder of Sewing Hope is a good friend of mine. I’ve actually known her my whole life. I’ve watched her passion and talent grow over the years. When she was in high school she had a summer art camp at her house that me and my sister went to! After college I watched as her career took her to New York where she started working for Broadway shows and then moved into television and film. She’s worked on “Gossip Girl”, “John Adams” and a then moved into working on films.

When Tara first went to Uganda several years ago, she came back with a huge vision about starting a vocational training program. It is amazing to see how it has grown since then. When I moved to New York she asked me to come on board the Sewing Hope team. Her passion and her vision really inspired me. I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in third-world countries but mostly in Latin America. I’ve never been to Africa but I’ve spent a lot of time in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Most of my experience working in those countries has been helping out on medical teams even though I don’t have any medical training. I have a theater background. I’ve worked in a costume shop. I’ve been an actor. Being able to take my passion for theater and fashion and turn it into something that helps women in a different way got me really excited.

B&TF: You are now Sewing Hope PR, are you planning to do more? Like going to Uganda and helping with some other things?

LM: Yes, I am. I’m hoping to go to Uganda at some point this year. Fount of Mercy works with a school and orphanage that has a program for deaf and blind children. The children with disabilities over there are not looked at the same way that other children are. They are often ignored and forgotten. The school doesn’t do have a creative arts program for them, and they need it. Fount of Mercy has a few people going there this summer that have music and theatre backgrounds. They will be singing and doing movement and dance classes with those children. They are really longing for a way to express themselves and be creative. I’d love to end up working there with them when I go.

B&TF: This sounds cool. You mentioned that you’ve been doing theater, voiceovers. How much of your career is based in L.A. and is there more possibilities for you in New York?

LM: I grew up in the theatre, I love it. I majored in Acting in college. I did do theater in L.A. but there’s more opportunity here for that. The really great theatre is in NYC. The wonderful thing about being a voice-over actor is that you can record and work from anywhere. I do more voice-overs than anything else.

B&TF: Yes, I read one of your tweets where you said that you love New York. Why New York?

LM: I just love New York! There is so much culture here. New York is full of art, just being here makes me feel more creative. LA sometimes feels like it’s a one-dimensional town because everybody’s in the entertainment industry. One of the things I like about New York is that you have so many people from different backgrounds pursing so many unique things.

B&TF: So are you considering New York as your home now or you’re still in between?

LM: My heart is in New York, yes. I still do have some amazing friends in LA, I will always go visit.

B&TF: What are you doing in your free time?

LM: I love to go to the theater. Whether I’m on stage or in the audience, the theater is where I feel the most at home. I love it. Right now I just like to take in the sights of the city. My mom is from NYC so I grew up spending a lot of time here. I just want to appreciate and take advantage of getting to live in such a cool city, I’ve made it a goal to do or see something new every day. I’m just enjoying all the unique experiences this city offers!

B&TF: Since I write for l-word.com, you know I’m going to ask you about Laurel. How did you meet and became such good friends?

LM: I was introduced to Laurel about 3 years ago and actually began working for her as her nanny. We have a lot in common so we really clicked from the beginning. Now just I feel like a part of her family, she has become one of my closest friends.

B&TF: You twittered before that you were in Vancouver when they were filming The L Word. Have you watched all the seasons?

LM: Yes, I have. I watched them all out of order. I actually hadn’t watched the show until I was living in Vancouver during season 6, so I went back to figure out what was going on!

B&TF: Did you have a chance to be an extra on The L Word?

LM: I actually didn’t do that. I was on set almost every day and I could’ve been an extra but I chose not to. More than anything I wanted to watch rehearsals. I was there to help Laurel with her children but it also felt like an acting internship! Watching Jane Lynch, Laurel and Jennifer work was really awesome. I would always read Laurel’s scripts with her. She was very open with me about talking about her process and I learned a lot from her.

B&TF: Who were your favorite characters?

LM: Well, I love Laurel so I love Tina. I like a lot of the characters. I think Alice is really funny.

B&TF: While you were on the set, do you have some memorable moments or a favorite experience?

LM: Living in Vancouver was really great. Since I was there for the final season it was really neat to see how the cast and crew operated after six years of being together.

B&TF: So did you interact a lot with other cast members?

LM: We hung out with Rachel Shelley sometimes. We would have picnics in the park with her. Jennifer was always really sweet to me. We sometimes hung out in her trailer. I got to know Rose Rollins and Kate French a little bit, they are great.

B&TF: Remember we twittered about Jennifer’s book that just came out and there’s a picture of you holding Nala. Have you looked through the book? Do you have your personal favorite photos in there?

LM: I love the ones of Laurel pregnant with Lola. I think those are really special. I think it is awesome that both of the girls are in the book, someday they will really appreciate it because it’s a huge part of their lives. The book is beautiful.

After we finished Liza introduced me to Tara Hawks and Sewing Hope’s Executive Director, Michelle Averna. When I saw Tara I thought of a ray of sunshine in the darkness. She was cheerful, optimistic, passionate about the project, and very modest. Tara explained her idea behind the Sewing Hope and her vision for the future of this program.

Interview with Tara Hawks and Michelle Averna

B&TF: How did you come up with the idea to have fashion to help women and children in Uganda?

Tara Hawks: I was inspired by another organization. I heard someone speak about how they work. They do water wells in Africa. I went on a trip with Fount of Mercy in 2007 and for me it was kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Africa. Michelle and I were talking to a mutual friend about it over dinner one night and she said, “You know there are groups of women there learning to sew.” It got me interested and when I went on that trip it became very, very clear automatically how to help. They really did need help supporting their existing classes over there. I got attached on that first trip and then came back and got my industry and my colleagues involved. It’s grown steadily since then because I think this industry really wanted something to support like this.

B&TF: What exactly does Sewing Hope program do?

TH: Fount of Mercy’s vision is to support orphans and vulnerable children in Africa, using education and vocational development. Sewing Hope is the vocational development branch of Fount of Mercy. The vision is to support orphans and vulnerable children. It requires caretakers, mainly women but also the communities and orphanages that care for those children. By providing new vocational skills for the women of those communities and the women taking care of those children, it supports the entire family and the entire community. Fount’s vision is to work within existing African organizations so they are African-run. They are grassroots organizations run by people who have lived there for their entire lives. We believe that they know their work better than we ever would, so we come in and support what they are already doing. These sewing classes exist without us but we come in and try to resource them with materials, machines and give them extra training through not only our own volunteers that go in the summer for very brief amounts of time but also try to get their teachers trained in some of the vocational schools in Africa. We also help provide a few salaries to keep those teachers consistently working to teach these groups of women.

Michelle Averna: The only thing I would add to that is that there’s also this capacity building component where we are trying to help these organizations think about ten years from now. It’s very ‘hand-to-mouth’ this great idea to take care of the women at the moment but one big thing with vocational programs is helping them with cooperatives and enable them to take care of one another five-ten years from now. It’s whole other skills set teaching them, like business skills, how to grow from just a little thing into something large.

B&TF: When you said you have volunteers who go to Africa for short periods of time, anybody can volunteer or you’re looking for people with certain skills?

MA: One thing that we would say is very unique to Fount of Mercy is that everybody has a skill set that can be used there. We tailor a volunteer to fit with the needs of organization. With vocational training we do try to match that skill set but if you are an educator, accountant, mom, an actor or a musician…we’ve had anybody and everybody serve with us because with vocational development it just requires some kind of skill set to match.

B&TF: Good to know because I was thinking about being a volunteer but I don’t have any kind of skills. I can teach Russian but I don’t think women in Uganda need that right now.

MA: One of our big needs is people to interview and to get stories so we can come back to the States and share those stories.

B&TF: Hey, that’s something I can do. Do you have to pay your own way to volunteer?

MA: You raise money because we believe that many people want to be involved in what’s happening in Africa but not everybody can go. So, if you’re going to get everyone in your life involved, it’s like we are all going together. It’s actually not that hard to raise money.

B&TF: Sounds great. So, out of all of the areas in the world that need help, why Uganda?

TH: Fount chose Uganda as an initial starting point to grow out of. We want to go to other countries as well. But we are young, Fount is four years old and Sewing Hope is three years old. Uganda was chosen because it’s one of more stable countries of the area and because generally they are very open to having volunteers and westerners in their country. Some countries, generally speaking, aren’t as open to that so it was a user-friendly place to start.

B&TF: Liza told me a little about you that you work as a designer on TV shows and movies, so tell me a little more about your career.

TH: I don’t design very much. I’m definitely trained more as a tailor. I do the sewing, I make and alter clothes, mainly costumes. I really work primarily in the costume world. I came up here after school nine years ago and worked in a Broadway shop, then I worked at the Metropolitan Opera for four years, I then moved into being a freelancer and I’ve done some television and movies. I was on “Gossip Girl” for two years and now I primarily do movies because they are short term commitments, they are only a few months at a time. As this work has grown I’ve needed that freedom to be able to go to Uganda twice a year and not being committed all year around to something.

B&TF: So if somebody doesn’t like the clothes on the show, should they blame designer or the tailor?

TH: (laughing) Designer, for sure. If something doesn’t fit right then they to blame the tailor! The designer chooses everything you see and then they do fittings and I do the alterations that come out of fittings. There’s just one person that chooses everything. If there’s a chance to make something from scratch because it’s a wedding dress or something special, then we make that from scratch. You know, in theater you make all the costumes from scratch, which is awesome. But in TV and movies you make very little, so it’s mostly alterations.

B&TF: Any fashion tips for the people who love design and fashionable clothes?

TH: I will say that I believe that anyone can pull off anything as long as you wear it well, so you own it. I tell people to wear something new at home three times before they go out and then they can wear anything.

B&TF: Do you believe in wearing what’s fashionable now or what you’re are more comfortable in?

TH: Definitely what you are more comfortable in. I’m not that fashionable. I wear what I’m comfortable in, what I like and anything that fits.

B&TF: I have some friends on twitter who are “Gossip Girl” fans. Do you have some funny or memorable moments from working on that show?

TH: Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) had her own fashion line during the second season and I actually was Jenny Humphrey because I made all of her clothes. We couldn’t buy and use anything pre-made because her character was supposed to have designed it. So technically, I’m the one who was Jenny Humphrey.

B&TF: Did you get recognized for that?

TH: No, because the designer designs it and he tells me what he wants and then I make it. Only the designer gets credit for the show.

B&TF: Do you prefer to be sort of on the background of the show or a little bit more up front?

TH: Definitely behind the scenes. I’m getting more comfortable being up front in this setting, I love kind of overseeing this event but professionally I like being in the shop. It’s a lot less stress. I’m very hands-on, I love working with my hands. I love that part of my work versus designing.

B&TF: Apart from Sewing Hope, do you have any other projects in your line of work?

TH: I’m currently working on an HBO film called “Mildred Pierce”. Honestly, I plan to be less and less in this career and more and more in my Sewing Hope work. I would love to be able to raise enough funds this year through events that I could be on salary and actually do this work as a full time job, instead of in addition to my full time job.

B&TF: So this is non-profit organizations with mostly volunteers?

TH: We have one staff member that’s on salary. She lives in Uganda full time and the rest of us do this completely voluntarily. We call ourselves staff but we don’t receive salary for this so we all have either full or part time jobs for supporting ourselves here. It’s a labor of love but we definitely want to do this as a full time job for sure.

B&TF: Apart from volunteering and participating in events like this, what else can you advice l-word.com readers to do to help this or other charitable organizations?

TH: Find something to support that you relate to and that your heart really relates to, whether it’s a fashion-based, women-based or child-based. Find something that fits who you are and then become involved in any way, and it can be a very simple way. One way we have is an initiative we are calling “Friendraisers”. It’s two-fold. It’s not only to raise money but also to raise friends that are not in our immediate circle. You can throw a dinner party for your friends or people you think would be interested. We have a packet that we would send that has a tea recipe, CD of pictures from Fount of Mercy and some story cards about people we helped. We ask you to throw a dinner party of any type and ask your friends to donate just what they would to a nice dinner out, donate that money to Fount of Mercy, and then spent 20 minutes talking about Fount of Mercy’s work. That’s what I would ask of the l-word.com readers that if they find themselves drawing in to what we do and they like this, then plan to come to our event next year and throw a Friendraiser for us to help us do our work.

B&TF: Where should they go to request those packets?

TH: Go on our website http://fountofmercy.org or you can go to www.sewinghope.net and there’s a Friendraiser tab that people can access. This is our annual event but everything else is ongoing year-around things.

B&TF: You know, Mia Kirsher from The L Word is doing something similar to help her project in Malawi. She’s asking people to do some sort of a global event on the same date, June 27, and it could be a dinner or teaching a lesson, or anything else to raise money.

TH: This is a good idea about doing it globally on the same day. Maybe we can do something like that in the future.

B&TF: This fashion show is your third. Tell me a little bit more about the other two and how successful they were.

TH: The first year we had about a 120 attendees and we made $500. The second year we had 235 attendees and we made $7,500.

B&TF: And today I was told you expect over 300 people?

TH: 300 will definitely be here and we expect to go anywhere up to 500.

B&TF: Sound like it’s been a great success and I wish you all the best.

Note: after this event was over, we got a tweet from Liza Morgan: “The Sewing Hope Fashion Show was a success! We raised a little over $20,000.00! Thank you to everyone for helping in that”. But I will get back to this later.

The show wasn’t going for another couple of hours so I went for a walk and explored the streets of New York. Busy, crowded streets filled with very diverse and interesting people. I’ve been to New York before and my favorite thing was always to walk the streets of the city and watch everyone around me. New York is full of life and though I’m not sure I could live there, it is always a wonderful place to visit.

I returned to the club later and waited outside with everyone else for the evening to begin. Slowly the guests began to arrive and soon the small club was filled with people who were drinking, chatting, buying raffle tickets and mingling with each other. Liza found me after about 30 minutes of socializing and told me that Laurel was due to arrive any minute. We waited outside until Laurel came towards us.

She looked amazing in her yellow dress and it really stood out amidst all the guests like a sunflower in the field of barley. I took a few photos of Liza and Laurel and then photos of Laurel with the beautiful painting that she donated to raise money.

The plaque by Laurel’s painting said: Acrylic painting … titled “Esperanza” with a quote from Laurel, explaining why she participated in this fundraiser. “Sewing Hope was brought to my attention by my good friend Liza Morgan. I was immediately impressed with their goal of empowering women to work and help themselves. This is what makes Sewing Hope special and sets it apart from other charities.”

Along with other photographers, I was positioned at the head of the room on a small platform so we could have better view to take photos and after an hour of reception the actual show began. First, we had the pleasure of watching a live performance by a drummer and African step dancers. They were amazing and really set the rhythm and mood for the Fashion Show.

Then the models began their walk, wearing beautiful dresses and costumes designed by 15 fashion and costume designers, including Emmett McCarthy, Catherine Zuber, Paul Tazewell, and Cynthia Flynt.  Each designer worked with an original African fabric and created a piece of wardrobe inspired by such a diverse continent and its brave women.

I talked to a few designers and models about their participation in this show and helping Fount of Mercy with their fundraiser and this is what they had to say.

Photo courtesy of Liza Morgan

Geoffrey Ehrlich, production designer: “I’m in charge of runway and decorations. It’s been great working with this company. I did this show last year with them. It was a huge success. As a designer, I had to come and throw something together on zero budget. I pulled stuff together from my other jobs…I worked on “Gossip Girl”… and because of the success I was able to increase my budget and do a lot more. I’m really happy with the way everything’s turning out right now.”

Cynthia Flynt, costume designer: “I was asked by Tara to do this. I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and looking for something to do more than just entertainment business and this was a great way helping women in need and it was inspiring.”

Jessica Patrick: “I’m involved in Sewing Hope because I feel like it’s a great opportunity for me to give back, for me to be a part of something that is not only empowering women but also being able to provide them with the resources that they need to be able to help themselves and provide for their families.”

Caroline Benzing: “I’m participating in Sewing Hope because I think it’s important to empower women to be self-sustaining citizens of the world, especially in Uganda where conditions are compromising. So if we can do anything that can aid their lives in any way and to raise money, it’s great.”

Onrico Nightingale: “I’m taking part in Sewing Hope event because I thought it was for a very good cause and I’m looking forward to the event tonight. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve done various fashion shows from Maryland all the way to New York.”

Jeff Bloovman: “I think it’s a really good cause and it’s good karma as well, and I hope that my involvement here will make some sort of positive impact. It’s a very exciting and a worthy cause.”

After the runway show (without a runway), each model stood on glowing cubes so everyone had a chance to take a closer look at the fabrics and designs. They were simply fabulous, the models and their designed clothes.

The rest of the guests continued to mingle with each other and the show organizers. I had a chance to chat with Laurel and we talked about her move to New York and being lucky on finding a loft in Tribeca from an amazing artist. This is when she mentioned about doing a show in the gallery in New York at the end of August or mid September.

The auction that is going on right now at http://auction.laurelholloman.net/ was organized for the purpose of raising money to sponsor the gallery opening. All winning bidders will receive a “personal” invitation from Laurel to her upcoming show.

Laurel also mentioned that she would love to come to more conventions because she loves her fans but it will depend on her schedule. Since her husband is working in China right now, Laurel’s priorities are her children and her work. I’d like to wish her good luck with her projects and success in all her endeavors.

Finally, it was a time for the raffle. Some raffle pieces were high-end, one-of-a-kind, like Laurel’s painting, set visit of “Gilmore Girl” or the jacket designed by one of the designers for the show. The tickets were $10 for those items. The rest were $1 each and included beautiful jewelry, tickets to the show, massage sessions and many more fabulous things. I bid on everything I could, including Laurel’s painting, hoping against all odds that I might finally win something.

Alas, as it always happened, other guests won everything I bid on. Was I upset? A little bit, but I prepared myself for such an outcome so my tears were short lived. And, as I already mentioned, the show was a tremendous success since over $20,000 was raised, almost three times more than for their previous fashion show.

Since I was already travelling for a few days, I had to fly home early so I booked my flight for 7 the following morning. It seemed ridiculous to book a hotel just for a few hours so I went to a nearby Sheraton and waited in the lobby. This is when I truly understood the meaning of the expression that New York is a city that never sleeps.

While sitting in the hotel’s lobby, waiting for the shuttle to take me to the airport, I saw people coming and going in the wee small hours of the morning. Some were coming back from a party, some were going to a party, some were using computers and some, like me, were waiting idly or searching for a food place opened for 24 hours.

I used the waiting time to transfer photos and interviews to my laptop and tried hard not fall asleep or I was in danger of being mistaken for a homeless person and thrown out on the streets. I was told as much by a guard in the lobby.

Have you ever tried to stay awake when you’ve been up for over 30 hours without sleep? It’s a torture. I realized that I was closing my eyes a few times just for a second only to find myself almost falling face down on my laptop. Fortunately, I’ve been through these kinds of situations before and I willed myself to stay awake. That and a bottle of cold Perrier helped.

At 3 am my shuttle arrived, took me to the airport and soon I was on my way home, full of wonderful memories of my first fashion show and sending best wishes to Sewing Hope to be successful in its work in Uganda. Sewing Hope holds fashion shows once a year but there’s never a bad time to support such an amazing organization.

Donate, volunteer, throw a fundraiser dinner party or simply tell your friends about it. As Mia Kirshner once said, “Little things go a long way”, anyone can be a part of something bigger to make someone’s life brighter.