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Fashion Show To Benefit Library Rape Victim

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Yvette Nguyen, 20, right, helps Tiffany Nguyen (not related), 14, with clothing Sunday, Sept. 15, 2008 in St. Petersburg during a fashion show rehearsal.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2008

TAMPA - The story spread like wildfire through the close-knit Vietnamese-American community.

In churches across the nation, they held special services to pray for the 18-year-old woman of Vietnamese heritage who was raped and beaten April 24 at Bloomingdale Regional Library in Brandon.

In Westminster, Calif., Michael Nguyen, a member of the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California, organized a carwash and bake sale to help pay her medical bills.

Closer to home, Michelle Phan of Tampa and her friends were considering a similar benefit after learning the victim likely will need expensive, long-term rehabilitation.

"I first heard about the rape victim on a MySpace bulletin," said Phan, a 21-year-old student studying illustration at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. "A lot of young people were talking about it so, after hearing her story, how she had this full scholarship to college and so much promise that was destroyed, I just felt compelled to help her."

Phan said their first idea was to host a barbecue. But when she announced her plans on her Web site, xanga .com/ricebunny, the fundraiser evolved into Fashion for Compassion, a benefit fashion show.

"People just started offering to help," Phan said. "We got the ballroom at the Tampa Convention Center for a huge discount, free food, and a lot of independent Asian and American designers from around the country contributed fashions for the show; everything from T-shirts and street wear to couture."

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Fashion for Compassion fundraiser to benefit the victim of the April 24 rape at Bloomingdale Regional Library.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Sept. 27 to 1 a.m.

WHERE: Tampa Convention Center, 333 S. Franklin St.

COST: $20 at www.fashionforcompassion .eventbrite.com or $25 at the door

INFORMATION: Call Michelle Phan at (813) 943-6305.

ORGANIZER GETS UNEXPECTED CALL

Amid all the fundraiser planning, Michelle Phan and her partners, Yvette Nguyen, 20, of Sarasota, and Wey Nguyen, 25, of St. Petersburg, received an unexpected phone call.

The rape victim's mother called to say she heard about the benefit and appreciated it, Phan said. The mom said her daughter, who is undergoing inpatient rehabilitation in Sarasota, can't walk or talk and is partially blind, but she can smile in response to questions, Phan said.

"Our hearts just dropped when we got that call. She invited us to meet with her and her daughter," Phan said, adding that the women accepted the invitation. "The family is really private, and we felt so honored, so trusted and so inspired."

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies arrested Kendrick Morris, 16, and charged him with sexual and aggravated battery of the teenager, who had stopped by Bloomingdale Regional Library to return books after hours. Morris remains in Orient Road Jail without bail.

.com.

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