Support is an Action Word

The Masque! Domestic Violence FundraiserPresented by Nilanjo! Fashion EntertainmentLocated at The Somerville City Club , 20 Inner Belt Rd, Somerville, MA

Saturday- November 3, 2012—Nilanjo! Fashion Entertainment presented another unique and collaborative event in honor of domestic violence awareness. The event was hosted by the beautiful K’Loni Sky and featured artists such as C Roc Smooth, Mr. Harvey, Tony Blue and the comedic styling of veteran comic Jonathon Gates. We had a surprise appearance by Freaky Lik and a poetry piece read by yours truly. The event was done Mardi Gras style since the three main colors of Mardi Gras fit the cause. The NFashion models then put on a mini fashion show representing the color themes for the evening; purple which stands for justice, green which stands for faith and gold which stands for power. We would like to thank all performers and participants for their support and presence as well as thank Kneading Bliss Therapeutic Massage for their raffle and give away donation, VERO Hair & Make-Up for make-up services, D.A.H Photos on photography, Tia McConnell who worked hard at the door, DJ Firestarta for his wonderful DJ services, Silk Occasions for their decoration donation, Immortal Creations and Norma Eves for their delicious cupcake donations and our friend Ana Tyree for her contribution at the eleventh hour. Most of all we would also like to thank everyone who attended, donated and/or supported us and helped make our event a success. We were able to raise a great donation for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and for domestic violence awareness.

Nilanjo! Fashion Entertainment events are generally community and charity driven. We also have a mission to encourage, empower and inspire women. It was such an honor to have ABCD at the event supporting our cause and passing out information and resources for young women. It’s important we look beyond ourselves and the scope of our neighborhood’s 5 mile radius. While we didn’t sell our last seat to The Masque event until the very last minute, still we are just happy we were able to reach that goal. However, we still should have sold more. We were frustrated that more people did not come to support the cause. We were met with many false promises and unanswered calls, emails and texts from people that normally interacted with us daily who disappeared days before the event then miraculously reappeared after the event concluded. We’re never mad at those who can’t attend but it would be nice if people would choose to support a great cause and great local talent versus lining the pockets of the club and liquor store owners or decide to help out the small business owner instead of spending their last $10 to keep the tobacco industry popping. Yet these very people scream how we need change and more support in our communities. Well...support is an action word and not just a topic for conversation.

We did a show that donated to Peace Boston – an entity committed to bringing peace to our streets – we have donated to breast cancer awareness charities, diabetes charities, heart disease charities, even more locally Children’s Hospital and also MAC Boston encouraging HIV testing and awareness. We have to aggressively seek out support from our peers for these events when we truly shouldn’t have to. Hopefully you or a loved one won’t need these services to only find out resources are limited to you because funding and donations were too little to continue research and staffing of specialists that could help save or prolong your life. Because we don’t want that to happen, a portion of our event proceeds are donated to charities. We are a small entertainment group with a big heart and we find it important to give back. We are also comprised of educated, talented, entrepreneurs who love our families, our children and our communities. Each go hand in hand. Therefore we will continue to encourage and foster citizenship regardless of who supports (or doesn’t). This last event was a challenge that worked out in the end. I’m so proud of my team, the participants, those who made the choice to attend and all the supporters who could not attend. Many still made personal donations and some circulated the flyer for us. It was great to have people come to the door indicating they saw the flyer on a friend’s page or were told about it by someone who could not make it. So to you...the ones who answered our calls, responded to our messages, kept in contact throughout as well as after the event, wished us well and meant it, and celebrates our success with us – THANK YOU! The success of this event is a celebration of the good things to come – because we’re only going to do it again (bigger, better and always blessed)! For more information about Nilanjo! Fashion Entertainment, please contact Nilanjo! Fashion Entertainment at contactnilanjo@nilanjo617.com or please visit us on the web at www.nilanjo617.com . Or call Nika L A Jones Hollingsworth at (617) 302-6452.