01/17/07

Sunrise Medical, Longmont, Colo, is sponsoring the Rolling with Style Gala, a fashion event that brings together top fashion designers, the best in wheelchair technology, and four inspirational “roll models.”

The event, hosted by Discovery Through Design, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to honoring women’s lifestyles, creating awareness and raising funds for paralyzed women’s health initiatives and spinal cord research, is set for Tuesday, February 6, at Cipriani at 42nd Street during New York’s couture Fashion Week.

The designers participating in this fashion event are donating their time and considerable talent to create one-of-a-kind designer Quickie wheelchairs, as well as complementary fashion ensembles, for their “roll models,” four women who were chosen in a national search for their inspirational responses to their disabilities.

The Rolling with Style Gala, hosted by Leslie Stahl, of CBS “60 Minutes,” will offer a full evening of celebration: a black-tie dinner; a fashion show with super models, as well as Roll Models; and live entertainment. “A sense of beauty and self is vital, and this event is the first step in our campaign to change the way our society perceives women in wheelchairs,” said Co-chairwoman Ashley Lauren Fisher.

All proceeds from the gala, plus the donations of generous sponsors, will benefit the Christopher Reeve Foundation, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Spinal Cord Injury Project at Rutgers University.

For more information about Discovery Through Design or to purchase tickets online for the Rolling with Style Gala, visit www.discoverythroughdesign.org.