On Wednesday, July 7th, Cutler held a Shoe4Africa Sea to the Stars Fundraising Event at their SoHo Salon. The party kicked off the journey of a lifetime for world-renowned runner and founder of Shoe4Africa, Toby Tanser, and celebrity hairstylist, Rodney Cutler. This November, Tanser and Cutler will run over 250 miles and up Mount Kilimanjaro, all to build the first-ever public children’s hospital in Kenya.
Anthony Edwards, chairman of the charity and wife, Jeanine Lobell showed their support while guests actively donated and bid on a number of exciting silent auction items, generously donated by the new Gansevoort Park hotel, Equinox, Redken, Dr. Fajiram, Starbucks and more.
Guests also snatched up African themed, custom-designed headscarves from NY-based designer, Thuy, allowing guests to show their support in a stylish way.
100% of all proceeds from the evening benefit Shoe4Africa!
For more information about the journey or to donate, visit www.shoe4africa.org/toby.To purchase your own Thuy Sea to the Stars headscarf, call Cutler Salon at 212.308.3838. ($45 – all proceeds benefit the charity)
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Two Men, 250 Miles and One Mountain
Tanser and Cutler’s African Journey of a Lifetime to Save Lives
9-million kids die each year, most of them in Africa, and an astonishing two thirds of these deaths are said to be treatable or preventable. A travesty of neglect? Sub Saharan Africa does not have a single public children's hospital. This November, two men go on an African journey from the “Sea to the Stars” to save the lives of millions.
This is an adventure-on-the-run that could one day become the Great Race of Africa. The journey stretches over 250 miles (approximately 35-40 miles of running per day) and culminates at the peak of the world’s highest freestanding mountain —Mt. Kilimanjaro. Toby Tanser, CEO and Founder of Shoe4Africa, athlete, author and philanthropist, will be running with long-time friend, Ironman and NYC salon owner, Rodney Cutler. Together they’ll embark on a journey to promote AIDS Awareness and raise funds to build the first and largest and public children’s hospital in Sub Saharan Africa; a continent whose child mortality is a 21st Century atrocity that must be addressed.
For Tanser, this mission has been a long time coming as it’s a journey shaped by his past, giving him the fire to keep moving:
“Ten years ago, I was going to run up Kilimanjaro, to celebrate the millennium. Instead, due to the wish of others, I ended up by the Indian Ocean in Zanzibar (100-miles South of Mombasa). On the beach, I was attacked by two men with a machete and a baseball bat, for my running shoes. It took me eleven days to get out of Africa, a nightmare. Being treated for my smashed skull, the clinic did not have antibiotics or anesthetics; if I had stayed in Africa I would have died given the offered health care. Eight years later, during the Kenyan Clashes (think a mini-Rwanda) I discovered the facts that amazed me; there was no public children’s hospital in Sub Saharan Africa. When I was given a proposal, fully backed by the Ministry of Health, my life changed as I set forth to build one.”
Starting in the Sea, in the tropics of Mombasa, filled with lush beauty and the lure of the African coast; the men will head inland through extreme heat and torrid humidity. Running through rural Kenya and the gorgeous sweeping vistas of one of Africa’s best game parks, Tsavo, they’ll have a chance to run with the lions and African tribes, into Tanzania, to Moshi and then up Mount Kilimanjaro. Climbing will not only be difficult, but it will take them into arctic conditions that will test their strength and determination. Though extreme, Tanser has no doubts. “The peak is not the end of the journey. Touching the stars is just the beginning of our journey to break ground and build the first public children’s hospital in Sub Saharan Africa,” states Tanser.
TO DONATE, visit shoe4africa.org/toby to be part of the greatest journey of a lifetime! Every dollar helps!
