By Pat Forrest
This December, Cher is playing New York’s Madison Square Gardens and, if you’re lucky, you and a guest will be right there with her. Westfort businesswoman Erika Maki of A Spa for You and CommunitTea and Coffee wants to “Cher the Love” for a good cause.
Throughout November, you can drop off food or cash donations for the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) to CommuniTea and Coffee, along with your ballot to win two tickets to Cher’s Dressed to Kill concert. The goal is to fill a KIA Soul with non-perishable food as many times as possible for the RFDA throughout November. To close out the contest, the KIA will be at the Women’s Christmas Extravaganza at the West Thunder Community Centre on November 30.
The event is in its first year, and is co-sponsored by The Walleye and Performance KIA. Maki says she knows the demand for food in our community is high and that the need becomes even more urgent as the Christmas season approaches. While Cher is well known for her powerful performances and over the top costumes, Maki says that it’s a lesser known fact that she is also active in charitable causes, such as the American Foundation for AIDS Research and Operation Helmet. “We wanted to showcase someone who is not only a great performer, but also a humanitarian—Cher fit the bill,” she said.
CommuniTea and Coffee and A Spa for You are co-located at 108 Frederica Street East.
Cher’s Back, and She’s Dressed to Kill
Cher’s having trouble saying goodbye, and that’s good news for the millions of fans of this seemingly ageless performer (she’s 68). Intending to hang up the sequins after her Living Proof Farewell Tour in 2002, she was lured back onstage in Las Vegas by way of a $100+ million contract. The Dressed to Kill Tour (with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo) has been in the works since 2010, and the tour has been taking the U.S. by storm. Her latest album and 25th studio album, Closer to the Truth, was released in September 2013.