Nellie’s Catwalk For Kids

I will admit that I often feel I am channeling my inner geek by writing this blog. I wonder to myself a lot, why do I spend all this time writing and working on this blog….for free? Why? Because I love doing it, I love the people, and I love the creative outlet it has provided me.

And then there are the times when completely random people read my writing and those people reach out to me, offering truly random acts of kindness.

Such an act happened a few months ago. Jenelle somehow stumbled upon something I had written about Ezra. She then contacted me asking if there was any way she could help. She offered for her organization, Nellie’s Catwalk For Kids (NC4K) to help make Christmas spectacular for the boys. I couldn’t say no.

Spectacular indeed! Those were all presents for the boys, all donated to us by Nellie’s Catwalk, I think we in total only bought 3 gifts for the boys this year. They also donated gift cards, and money for bills for us. It was such a blessing!

The boys had such an amazing Christmas, thanks to Nellie’s Catwalk.

Are you asking yourself what is Nellie’s Catwalk For Kids? Well I interviewed Jenelle herself! Please read on, it is such an amazing organization.

 

            (Jenelle)

What is Nellie's Catwalk For Kids?

Nellie's Catwalk for Kids is a growing non-profit organization that Jenelle "Nellie" Krumlauf started when she was only sixteen-years-old. This organization raises funds through two events that are fashion shows, the prom expo which is held in the winter, and the summer fashion show.

 

What made you start Nellie's Catwalk?

I wanted to start Nellie's Catwalk for several different reasons. My grandmother, Goldie Sheridan passed away from cancer when I was very young and I and was very hard for me to understand why. My grandmother use to always call me Nellie and now my entire family calls me nellie, so in honor of my grandmother we added "Nellie" to the name of the organization! When I was a sophomore in high school I felt like I needed to make use of my free time and I am not very athletic, so I was searching for what I could do to help. Overtime it molded into helping children, then into helping children with cancer, and then helping children with cancer through fashion shows. After the first show back in 2007 I was hooked and knew this was something I wanted to do until there is a cure!

What are you goals for Nellie's Catwalk?

I am now going to school majoring in Public Relations and minoring in non-profit management, I hope the skills that I learn in the classroom at Ohio Dominican University will help me advance NC4K! I am currently volunteering at Nationwide Children's Hospital in the oncology clinic to get to know the kids on a personal level, my goal is to get to know the kids and form a Nellie's Catwalk for Kids CLUB. My goal with the club is to organize monthly events for the kids to take part in to help take their mind off of everything else. Another goal that I have for NC4K is to spread it to other major cities across the United States to be able to help children within those communities. And finally the biggest overall goal is to find a cure, because it breaks my heart to see anyone, especially children, suffer from cancer, and by creating this organization and the help of other organizations it will help put a stop to cancer.

What are you currently working on?

Besides working 3 jobs and going to school full-time I somehow manage to make time for NC4K and help it to grow even more. We just finished buying Christmas presents for 6 different families that have a child with cancer. This is something that I wanted to do since summer because NC4K donates to Nationwide Children's Hospital Oncology Center to help advance research, but we also set aside funds to directly help families that have a child with cancer. When delivering the gifts it truly touched my heart to see how excited the children were, it helped me personally remember the true meaning of Christmas. We have also just added the 2010 PROM EXPO which will be held Jan. 31st, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel at Easton Town Center from 1:30-5:00PM. This event was designed to showcase the new prom trends for 2010, it will help girls select their perfect dress for their prom night. Tickets are only $10.00 each!

How can people help locally?

There are several ways that people can help locally. To name a few they can donate funds to help NC4K grow, attend our events, be a model in the fashion shows, donate silent auction items, be a volunteer, pray for NC4K, and many more!

How can people help from afar?

There are also several ways people can help even if they don't live in Ohio. If they feel called to help start a Nellie's Catwalk in their city they can work with Nellie on getting that started, they can donate funds to NC4K, pray for our organization, and many more.

 

Blog for a Cause:

You could also help raise awareness by reposting my post, or blogging about the upcoming prom expo especially if you live in Ohio!

Also, why not support Nellie’s Catwalk for Kids by grabbing a button, and placing it on your blog? Please, it would mean a lot to me. You can also find it in my sidebar.

<center><a href="http://catwalk4kids.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Manic Mother" src="http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww47/manicmother/Untitled2_picnik-1.jpg" /></a></center>

Thanks again Jenelle, we were so touched by what your organization did for our family.