The third annual Wine, Women & Shoes benefit for the Midland Rape Crisis and Children's Advocacy Center will be April 5 with its usual glitz and glamour at the Horseshoe Pavilion. Palladium Arts Studio is the presenting sponsor for the event.

The event, the main fundraiser for the center, raised $100,000 its first year and $175,000 in 2015.  The hope is that this year’s total exceeds last year’s, said organizer Lauren Blackketter, a board member of MRCCAC, which provides necessary resources for victims of sexual assault, child victims of physical and/or sexual abuse and witnesses to violent crime.

The first two hours of the Wine, Women & Shoes will consist of wine tasting and shopping. There are eight California wineries and eight fashion partners, both local and national, participating, Blackketter said. Twenty percent of all sales will go to MRCCA, she said.

Local vendors include Julian Gold, My Soul to Keep, Occasion’s Fine Jewelry and Ravi Rouge. Other vendors are Jill Courtemanche Millinery, Nihsima, Sirens USA and Susie O’s.

The last hour of the event will be a live auction. Food and drinks will be served throughout the evening.

The event features the “shoe guys”— 30 Midland men who will sell raffle tickets, hand out swag items and mix and minge with the crowd. They’ll also carry designer shoes on silver trays.

“One of the things that always gets people laughing is that there are two shoe guys assigned to each boutique and they have silver trays and they walk around with shoes and handbags and try to sell you on these things from the vendors,” Blackketter said. “I had one guy come up to me, and he had this shoe with a peacock feather on it. He said a lady just told him she’d buy this $300 shoe if he tried it on. I said, ‘Did you?’ He said, ‘No.’ There was another shoe guy nearby, and he said, ‘Where is she? I’ll do it!’”

This year’s shoe guys include Mayor Jerry Morales, County Commissioner Jimmy Smith and City Councilman Spencer Robnett.

Morales has been a part of the event from the beginning.

“I was curious the first year: What is it? What it’s doing in Midland,” Morales said. “It was very interesting and very unique. The ladies who organize the event really turned the Midland Center into something unique and beautiful. It’s nice to be able as the mayor to welcome ladies from around the Permian Basin into the event and doing the hospitality part. And it’s raising money for a very good cause.”

Blackketter said MRCCAC — which provides resources for victims of sexual assault, child victims of physical and/or sexual abuse and witnesses to violent crime — was “looking for a signature fundraiser (in 2013) ... We weren’t getting the consistency of funding each year, so we needed something to really build on and get people excited about so they get excited about the charity.”

And they found Wine, Women & Shoes, which is a national organization. 

 “Wine, Women & Shoes is extremely important to the center,” said Executive Director Lori Perales. “It is 15 percent of our total operating budget and it has also reduced our need to have two, sometimes three fundraisers a year. Reducing that need allows staff to dedicate more time to our clients and not having to spend hours planning additional fundraising. I’m really glad we were able to bring this event to West Texas.”