Proffitt PR Hosts Most Successful Girls’ Night Out For Shelter House

On Thursday, September 26, 2013, Proffitt PR held its 7th Girls’ Night Out (GNO) event, Arabian Nights at Elephant Walk in Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort and raised $12,501.37.

 
Beginning as a friendly holiday party for local women of the area just over one year ago, GNO soon cultivated into a signature charity event held at venues including Pandora’s of Grayton Beach, Harbor Docks, Marlin Grill, Tuscany Italian Bistro, and The Solaris. GNO quickly garnered a loyal following of 400+ ladies. With such a significant growth of the event, Proffitt PR began to incorporate a different beneficiary for each event in order to give back to the community.
 
For Girls’ Night Out: Arabian Nights, Proffitt PR partnered with local charity, Shelter House Domestic and Sexual Violence Center to help fund the anti-domestic violence programs that Shelter House implements throughout the area. Shelter House is the state-certified domestic violence shelter, serving victims of domestic violence in Okaloosa and Walton counties. Services include a 24-hour hotline, crisis counseling, advocacy, outreach, primary prevention, transitional housing and confidential shelter.
 
 “Shelter House was extremely excited to partner with Proffitt PR on GNO because it is an all women event. At least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. Women need to band together to stand up against the violence,” states Shelter House’s Executive Director, Michelle Sperzel. “It was amazing that over 400 women came out that night to Elephant Walk to do just that! The funds raised will go toward starting the new Shelter House Rape Crisis program a much needed service for Okaloosa and Walton Counties.”
 
For a $40 donation, ladies of all ages were immediately greeted with a customized wine glass sponsored by Design360, Regatta Chiropractic and Laser Center, and RSVP Events. Attendees were also given a luxurious pashmina scarf as thank you gifts for attending sponsored by Destin Jewelers and Conerly, Bowman & Dykes. Red carpet photos were taken with 30A Street Style of Outright Social along with Pure7 Films and guests were offered Ketel One Vodka specialty cocktails. Two bands, Continuum and Jacob Mohr Band along with DJ EXQ reigned throughout the pool deck and the entire 8,000 square feet of Elephant Walk. Ladies enjoyed perusing an extravagant display of 95 silent auction items from local businesses including a luxurious week stay at Watercolor by 360 Blue Properties, a stay from Dale E. Peterson Vacations, a Bote Board, ads in area magazines, golf, jewelry, art, spa packages and more. Other activities included Facetime Photobooth, two intuitive angel card readers from the Healing Clinic of Fort Walton Beach, Persian face painting by Abrakadoodle, vendor displays, a fire breather and the evening ended with an incredible fireworks show by PyroShows over the beach.
 
To date, Proffitt PR’s Girls’ Night Out events have raised $44,096.75 for multiple area charities. GNO’s past efforts raised $10,031 in May for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast, $12,399 in December 2012 for Food For Thought Outreach, $4,682.38 for a restricted breast cancer fund for underserved women at the Oncology unit at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast and $4,483 in April 2012 for the international charity, Planting Peace that dewormed and saved 298,866 children around the world.
 
“The outpouring of support and generosity from the local businesses and attendees has truly made Girls’ Night Out blossom into a movement,” states Jessica Proffitt. “As a women’s event, it’s such a great fit to work with Shelter House. They are changing lives of women right here in our area, and we’re honored to be a small part of that impact.”
 
Given the resounding success of the seven Girls’ Night Out events, it’s hoped that each event going forward will provide an even greater chance to raise funds for local charities of the Emerald Coast. The next Girls’ Night Out is slated for sometime next year. Details to come.
 
For more information on Girls’ Night Out and/or sponsorship opportunities, contact Proffitt PR at gno@proffittpr.com or (850) 502-1652.
 

About Shelter House Shelter House is the state-certified domestic violence shelter, serving victims of domestic violence in Okaloosa and Walton counties. Services provided include a 24-hour hotline, crisis counseling, advocacy, outreach, primary prevention, transitional housing and confidential shelter.

If you feel that a family member or intimate partner is endangering your physical or emotional safety or if you know someone experiencing this in their home, call Shelter House’s hotline at 1-800-44-ABUSE or 850-863-4777.
 
About Proffitt PR Proffitt PR is a full service boutique, consulting firm that specializes in public relations, marketing, social media strategy, branding, event planning, communications, and advertising. For more information visit www.proffittpr.com, Proffitt PR’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ProffittPR and the Proffitt PR’s Girls’ Night Out Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ProffittPRGNO. President, Jessica Proffitt can be reached at jessica@proffittpr.com and Vice President, Whitney Ladwig can be reached directly at whitney@proffittpr.com.