Peace, Love, and Hats Off for Honey Shine

Posted by Maryanne Salvat On May - 23 - 2013
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Tracy Wilson Mourning and her Honey Bugs Shine

More than 600 stylish ladies, all in sensational hats, recently gathered for the annual Hats Off Lunch at Jungle Island which boasted the colorful retro theme:  “Peace, Love, Honeyshine.”  During the welcome reception, the ladies bid on coveted silent auction items, and posed in the red carpet photo booth before enjoying a seemingly endless buffet. The always-charming, award-winning journalist, Louis Aguirre, news anchor with WSVN TV Fox 7 and DECO Drive co-host, who looked dashing in a fedora, flattered the ladies as soon as he took the stage- drawing roaring applause from the audience.  Aguirre introduced Honey Shine’s Honey Bugs, Yolanda Jiron, 18, and Quanthavia Stalworth, 17, now college-bound, who shared their personal stories of success and served as Mistresses of Ceremonies.  Honey Shine founder, Tracy Wilson Mourning joined the ladies on-stage and gave a touching and tearful account of her personal involvement with Honey Shine, which dates back to her childhood.

The Honey Bugs shone with a confidence brighter than all of the colors in the room as they danced, recited poetry they had written and sang alongside legendary songstress, Maryel Epps.  The excitement peaked during the anticipated “Honey Bug” Showcase – a catwalk fashion show sponsored by Aventura Mall that featured select Honey Bugs, who have exemplified exceptional participation and improvement in grades. Participating models were outfitted by Gap retail stores, who showcased its casual Spring/Summer collection and Bloomingdales who also donated items from its current spring collection.

This year’s fundraising event generated a whopping $100, 000 from ticket sales, the silent auction, raffle tickets and donations. Proceeds from the event enable Honey Shine to continue enriching the lives of the young girls enrolled in the program, aka, “Honey Bugs,” by helping fund its workshops, field trips and Camp Honey Shine, a six-week summer day camp taking place at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart.

Notable attendees included: Alonzo and Tracy Mourning, Janice Combs; Betty Wright, R&B singer/songwriter; Miami Heat executives; Gila Edrich from Louis Vuitton; DJ Elle; Katharine Rubino, VP of Marketing at Neiman Marcus Coral Gables; representatives from Peace Love World; Paola Rueda from Hublot; Violet Camacho from Haute Living, select members of the news media, volunteers and committee members from Honey Shine, Inc., Overtown Youth Center and Mourning Family Foundation.

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