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2019 Annual Power of the Purse Luncheon Featuring Elizabeth Smart Sells Out

The 2019 Power of the Purse Luncheon and silent auction, a fundraiser by the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge, will welcome author Elizabeth Smart as their guest speaker to discuss her latest book.

The event will take place Thursday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Holmes Convocation Center on Appalachian State University’s campus, with tickets having been $100 per person. However, according to Executive Director Karen Marinelli, the event quickly sold out with 450 people expected to attend.

Where There’s Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up follows up on her #1 New York Times bestseller, My Story, about being held in captivity as a teenager. She will go on to talk about how she managed to survive with a powerful and inspiring book regarding what it takes to overcome trauma, find the strength to move on, and reclaim her life.

Smart will share her own story of perseverance and inner strength. Her talk will share her personal story about her nine-month-long kidnapping at the mere age of 14, before she later went before her captor to testify in court.

She will touch on other major life lessons such as overcoming extreme adversity, the importance of the process of recovery, and not allowing your past to dictate your life’s future.

Today, Smart is an American child safety activist and contributor for ABC News.

The Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge is a collective giving organization formed and sustained by a group of women philanthropists who want to make a positive impact on the lives of women and girls in the High Country.

They further state that it is their belief that all women have the right to equality, safety, opportunity, and self-determination in both professional and personal aspects of their lives. The organization continuously works to achieve these goals through their grant-making, advocacy, volunteer work and community building.

The mission behind the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge is to create positive change for all women and girls in the High Country through collective giving. Since its inception, the WFBR has granted over $1.4 million with all donations are pooled to make large and impactful contributions to local nonprofits.

The luncheon will include a catered lunch and a silent auction which will showcase 75-100 items of various jewelry, art, wine packages, wood crafts, purses and more, later followed by Smart’s presentation.

The Power of the Purse Luncheon is the organization’s largest annual fundraiser with it raising over $60,000 in 2018. However, The Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge is always accepting any generous donations on their website at http://www.womensfundoftheblueridge.org/.