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Tag: good cause

  • Fashion Bulletin: Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown auctions stylish wardrobe for good cause

    Fashion Bulletin: Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown auctions stylish wardrobe for good cause

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    Legendary California politician Willie Brown, the brash liberal with a devilish grin as wide as a $100 bill, will be remembered as not just a powerbroker and master fundraiser, but also as a clothes horse with few peers.

    “I’ve spent more time in the closet than any straight man in San Francisco, but that’s just to choose my wardrobe,” the dapper former mayor of the city says in his 2008 memoir, “Basic Brown.”

    Brown, 89, whose popularity was due, in part, to his mere presence on stage, in powerhouse restaurants, and the innermost circles of Democratic party leadership, recently donated a portion of his wardrobe to San Francisco Bay Goodwill.

    “We are honored to have Willie Brown as a supporter of the good work we do,” Andy Simons, associate vice president of e-commerce for the charity organization, said in an interview on Saturday.

    Proceeds from the “Willie Brown Collection” will help fund Goodwill’s mission to provide job and career training for people in need of a second chance. The clothes are up for sale on eBay.

    “Own a Willie Brown fashion piece by shopping the exclusive collection online, while supplies last!” the nonprofit announced on Thursday, along with opening prices ranging from $24 to more than $300.

    The 7-day auction, which lasts until Wednesday, features a taupe Kiton overcoat, a black Salvatore Ferragamo pea coat, a brown Brioni silk single-breasted blazer, and a multicolored hoodie with images of Brown printed on it.

    If anyone was destined to wear $6,000 Italian suits, it was Brown. A great-grandson of Southern slaves, the Texas-born Brown never let anger get in the way of his determination to live large and for a purpose.

    Over the course of his improbable life story, he was a two-term mayor of San Francisco after becoming the longest serving Assembly speaker in California history.

    Through it all, Brown cultivated his image as connoisseur of the high-life whose daily fashion choices generated a steady stream of fashion bulletins in the media. His snap-brim fedora, for example, triggered a San Francisco-wide run on men’s dress hats.

    “You really have to have more than just a good heart,” he told 60 Minutes correspondent Harry Reasoner in a 1984 interview. “You also have to have some style.”

    “California is an image state. California is where it happens. You really — you really have to project something.”

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    Louis Sahagún

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  • Hundreds in metro Atlanta walk to find a cure at Walk to End Alzheimer’s

    Hundreds in metro Atlanta walk to find a cure at Walk to End Alzheimer’s

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    ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – From start to finish, there was nothing but love, support, and hope at this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

    For Harriet Watson and her family, this was far more than just another walk. Her brother was diagnosed when he was just 50.

    “I hated when he couldn’t remember a lot of things, some of the family members he couldn’t remember,” she said.

    They were among the more than 2,000 participants, many sharing stories of how they watched their loved ones’ minds slowly decline.

    “First they lose the fact that their loved one doesn’t know who they are, then after that, it’s the actual death,” said Laura Aranda, with Greenwood Place Assisted Living and Memory Care.

    Spencer Graves’ mother was just 55 when she was diagnosed.

    “My mom actually handed the car keys to my dad and said ‘If that’s true if that’s what is happening, I don’t want to drive anymore,’” he said.

    Participants held flowers of various colors, each corresponding to their relationship to Alzheimer’s, whether that be a caregiver, an ally in the fight, someone battling the disease, or someone who has lost someone. Atlanta News First was a proud media sponsor, with anchor Brooks Baptiste emceeing and sharing his very own experience.

    “In the case of my grandfather, there wasn’t really a conversation about how he was slowly but surely declining,” said Baptiste.

    Baptiste hopes events like this can bring more awareness to the debilitating disease, and raise money for research.

    “Something specifically that we see in the black community…people do not want to address this challenge that is really plaguing our community,” he said.

    Organizers said this year’s walk and fundraiser was a hit.

    “We’ve raised $521,000 and some change,” said Amy Richardson, senior director of development, Alzheimer’s Association, Georgia chapter.

    The organization hopes to keep that momentum alive, as researchers race to find better treatment options and ultimately a cure.

    Copyright 2022 WANF. All rights reserved.

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