‘Shop with a purpose’ tonight at 6

Published 12:02 am Thursday, September 1, 2011

Ayla Powers (left) and best friend Becca Cory.

Local direct sales representatives have come together for a “Shop with a purpose” event tongith at Springdale benefitting cancer patient Ayla Powers.

Powers has spent nearly a month in the special intensive cancer unit at the Mobile Infirmary.

Powers, 21, is undergoing treatment for germ cell ovarian cancer, which has metastasized to her liver.

Best friend Rebecca Cory said Powers’ condition remains critical.

“She’s really hanging in there,” Cory said. “She’s got a lot of people praying for her.”

When Heather Owen, Lurleen B. Wallace Community College recruiter, read a recent news story about Powers’ battle, she remembered the Straughn High School graduate as a former LBW student.

“When I read about Ayla, I felt like I wanted to do something, and this is what we pulled together in a week,” Owen said.

“This” is a fundraiser featuring local consultants of Chez Ami children’s clothes (Owen); Mary Kay Cosmetics (Katie King); Pampered Chef (Jennifer Palmer); Stella & Dot boutique jewelry and accessories (Hailey Stubbs); Thirty-One Gifts purses and accessories (Mandy Hilson); Willow House home accessories (Emily Prichett); Tastefully Simple gourmet foods (Christy Copeland) and Ohh, Snap Photography (Lecole Bush).

Each will have wares on sale at various locations tonight from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. throughout Springdale, which was rented though a gracious contribution from a local donor. Proceeds will benefit the Ayla Powers medical fund at Superior Bank.