May 29, 2011

Shop Owners Raise Funds For Causes At Charity Boutique DayBy Vanessa SmallWashingtonPost.com

When Kim Putens was a few years into launching her Bellacara cosmetics boutique in Old Town Alexandria 11 years ago, a young, cheerful, blond patron approached her with a unique request: She asked to work at the boutique without pay because she was on disability.

Putens agreed.

A few months later, 29-year-old Stacy Boylan became ill. Then Putens received the bad news in a phone call. “Her life being taken so [soon] really impacted my business partner and I,” Putens said.

After grieving, they began donating annually to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, an organization that seeks to cure the lung disease that took Boylan’s life.

After raising between $1,000 and $1,500 each year for the cause, Putens decided to expand the effort to a network she heads consisting of 30 boutiques in Old Town Alexandria.

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