RCH Red Dress Fashion Show Educates, Brings Awareness to Heart Disease and Strokes

REDLANDS>> Men and women pranced down the runway creating a sea of red at The Riverside Community Hospital's Red Dress Fashion Show on Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Riverside Convention Center. Their goal is to provide women with the knowledge and tools needed to improve their health through eating habits and lifestyle change that help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. This year’s theme was ‘Rewarding Healthy Lifestyle Changes.” “I started this event eight years ago. Since February is National Heart Month, this was an opportunity to educate women on how to take care of their heart by providing tools to help women incorporate a healthier lifestyle,” said Cherie Crutcher, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at RCH. Over the last two years, the number of women participating in the event grew from 350 to more than 1,000 women. The event gave guests an opportunity to dress up in their Valentine’s Day red outfits and to visit educational vendor booths that offered free health screening. Multiple fashion vendors offered a wide range of clothing and jewelry for sale. People from all over the Inland Empire attended the event, as well as some from places as far as Los Angeles. Guests were then treated to a luncheon where multiple speakers gave educational speeches on ways to live a healthier lifestyle, with Crutcher as emcee and Shannon Fox, Ms. California, as the co-hosts for the event. “I feel honored to be able to travel to different events, but to be at an event close to home, that’s exciting alone. But to just help bring awareness to something that affects families, I think it’s a great thing to be a part of something positive like this,” Fox said. Fox stated she was excited to see the fashion from the different local boutiques and was looking forward to being inspired by the guest speakers. The event featured three guest speakers: Dr. Fatima Hakkak, a cardiologist with Pulse Cardiology, spoke first on the systems and ways to prevent Heart Disease in women. She was followed by Dr. David Suh, Board Certified Bariatric Surgeon, who lectured about obesity and other cardiovascular diseases in both men and women. The last speaker was Monica Brant, international fitness athlete and model, gave a presentation called G.O. H.E.A.R.T where she gave tips and tools on how to get started on a healthy lifestyle and how to maintain it for the rest of one's life. “Having a goal is really important. It’s hard to make changes in your life without having a goal,” Brant said. “This event lets women come and celebrate together while being educated on some healthy lifestyle options. We can do some much better than we can alone.” The event concluded with the Red Dress Fashion Show, with the clothes provided by local boutiques. The fashion show featured prominent and influential women, while also highlighting women who were heart survivors. The guests also heard testimonials from women who have experienced successful weight loss and body transformations, such as guest speaker Samantha Timpson as well as April Smith, a model at the Red Dress Fashion Show.