Hillsborough Street Renaissance Festival (Raleigh NC) Gears Up for Spring

[from indyweek.com, written by Kelly Behling]

With construction set to begin on Raleigh's Hillsborough Street in May, many people will be avoiding the work zone for the next two years. Before it begins, a green celebration has been planned, right in time for spring.

On Saturday, March 14, the Hillsborough Street Renaissance Festival will shut the road to traffic between Gardner Street and Enterprise Street to make way for booths, music and food. The festival, which begins at noon, will feature cooking competitions with local food, a fashion show featuring recycled materials, and exhibits showcasing alternative fuels and cars with environmentally friendly technology. The Kid Zone will even feature solar-powered race cars, among other activities designed to keep little ones entertained.

The event was conceived as a way to help tie together three facets of the community surrounding N.C. State: businesses, families and students.

"The goal is to revitalize Hillsborough Street," said Amy Callahan, a spokeswoman for the festival. "We want to make it a place where people want to go to hang out again and enjoy Raleigh together. There's a dividing line between the campus and the community that runs along Hillsborough Street. We hope by revitalizing the street there will no longer be that line."

Food will provide one catalyst for unity. NCSU fraternities will face off against Hillsborough Street restaurants cooking their famous barbecue, with the green theme highlighted by a solar-powered pig cooker. More than 20 types of barbecue will be available for sampling, as well as a variety of pies provided by NCSU sororities. Festival-goers can enter a raffle to become a judge of the Iron Chef-style cooking competition between two local chefs.

Proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets, auction items, food, drinks and memorabilia will go to three charities: Engineers Without Borders, MorLove and Soles4Souls, which all provide recycled materials or renewable energy to those in need.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the festival. For more information, see hsren.org.

Moxie Kids Announces Shoe Drive to Benefit Soles4Souls Inc.

[from the Carolina Newswire]

Moxie Kids announced today that it is hosting a shoe drive to benefit Soles4Souls Inc., the international footwear charity that delivers shoes to needy people around the world. During the shoe drive, Moxie Kids will be offering a 15% discount on Spring/Summer shoes to all customers who bring in gently worn pairs of shoes toward the effort. The shoe drive will begin on March 1, 2009 and will end on March 15, 2009. Moxie Kids is located at 2026 Cameron St. in Cameron Village, Raleigh, NC.

"Many of our customers are interested in recycling as well as charitable giving," said Gina DeFrank, co-owner of Moxie Kids. "This shoe drive gives them a good discount on new shoes that their own growing kids need as well as the opportunity to recycle their shoes from the previous season in support of a great cause," she said.

"We are excited that Moxie Kids is working with us to spread joy to people, both here in the United States and around the world," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "It is only because of proactive retail stores, such as Moxie Kids, that we are able to accomplish our goal of getting shoes on the feet of people who need them most," he said.

For more information on how you can get involved with this shoe drive and take advantage of the discount toward a new pair of shoes, contact Beth Podlesnik, Manager, (919) 821-3348.

About Moxie Kids

Moxie Kids is a childrens boutique located in Raleigh's Cameron Village and online at www.moxiekidsonline.com. The store specializes in unique clothing and shoes with a modern twist for boys and girls ages 0 to 8. In 2008, Moxie Kids was voted best Children's Store in the Triangle by Citysearch.