Book Release Party To Benefit Shade Tree Takes Place Tomorrow

 On Thursday, Oct. 15, local author Renee Jean will host a book release party and fundraiser for victims and survivors of domestic violence, from 5-8 p.m. in the Toscana ballroom of The Venetian and The Palazzo Congress Center. The event will be held in partnership with The Shade Tree, an organization that provides safe shelter to women, children and their pets in crisis, and Sands Cares, the corporate citizenship program of Las Vegas Sands Corp.  Donations to Shade Tree will be accepted in lieu of tickets at the door.

The special event, held to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month, will feature readings from the book “Survivor,” as well as guest speakers and a raffle.

In addition to Jean’s book “Survivor,” there are three additional books that will be released, including “Behind Closed Doors” by Kate Marie Robbins, “Finding Rachel” by Bree Vanderland, and “Fighting Chance,” an anthology contributed to by various authors from the Domestic Abuse Awareness Warriors.

This book release party is the live portion of a two-part event. The second portion will be hosted online through Facebook.

“Survivor” will be available for sale at the event along with a sample copy of the other three, all of which donate proceeds to charities.

For more details, call 702-385-0072.

About The Shade Tree:
The Shade Tree was established in 1989 as Jubilee Ministries and, at the time, had little more to offer than safety, shelter, and cots in the basement of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. In 1990, diocese members, Junior League of Las Vegas, and the City of Las Vegas collaborated to establish a permanent shelter. In December of that year, The Shade Tree opened in a building owned by Catholic Charities.

Within ten years, The Shade Tree had far outgrown the first building. Programs and services that were truly helping women attain self-reliance were taxing the old building. To address these growing pains, Donald W. Reynolds Foundation made a dream come true with a 5 million dollar capital grant to build a new facility at the corner of Owens and Main Street.

Today, The Shade Tree is the largest shelter of its kind in the state, and is the only 24- hour accessible shelter designed specifically to meet the needs of women and children in Southern Nevada. With 364 permanent beds, The Shade Tree provides over 100,000 nights of shelter each year. On average, 33% of our clients are children under the age of 18. Senior citizens represent the fastest growing segment of our population.

The Second and third floors of our 38,000 square foot facility are residential areas with sleeping room, libraries, training rooms, restrooms, and children’s playrooms. The main floor has our “Dayroom,” kitchen, laundry, restrooms and showers, and services for victims of violence. The full basement is used for storing donations and shelter supplies.

The Shade Tree is a 501(c)3 non profit-organization. They are a local ‘grassroots’ agency with no national affiliation or support.