Birthday celebration to benefit Room for One More Child

She went from a doorstep in South Korea to organizing the runway in Cape Girardeau for a charity that assists families with national and international adoption processes.

Nikki Stallion Brewer was discovered in 1973 as an infant on the doorstep of the mayor of BooChun City in South Korea. She lived in two different foster homes in her homeland for the following year and a half. At 21 months old, she was sent to America to live with her adoptive parents.

Now, 38-years later, Brewer wants to give back to the adoption community.

She has teamed up with Room for One More Child, a national adoption advocate organization founded in Cape Girardeau, and local designer, Turya Nations, to host Nikki Stallion Brewer's Birthday Celebration Benefit on Thursday.

Brewer's birthday is May 12, and her U.S. citizenship anniversary date is May 5, which this year marked her 33rd year as an American citizen.

The event will feature a fashion show of Nations' clothing designs under her brand "Guy Baxter," followed by music and dancing. A silent auction will also be held and feature two items including one of Nations' pieces and a jewelry piece from C.P. McGinty Jewelers of Cape Girardeau.

All proceeds from the ticket sales and auction will be used for adoption grants through Room for One More for 21 families that have been approved by adoption agencies. The grants assist these families with national and international adoption costs.

Brewer said she is empathetic toward children without basic needs, as she was at such a young age.

"I feel like I'm giving back," she said. "That I'm actually able to use my experiences to hopefully help several other families and help complete some families or at least add on to them."

Shari Stroup, founding member and president of Room for One More, said the average cost of an adoption process is $16,000 to $35,000, which includes agency fees, background checks, legal fees, child care and country fees. She said by assisting with adoption fees, the organization takes the human obstacles out of the adoption process.

"We believe that God doesn't call the family that has $35,000 in the bank to adopt a child," she said. "He calls the family with the heart to love his children.

"Adoptions are expensive. We don't believe money should stand in the way of a child coming home or a family not being able to receive their child that God has already chosen for them before they were born."

Brewer said several of the 21 families receiving grants are families in Southeast Missouri, though they span as far as South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Washington and Louisiana.

She said the goal of the event is to raise $35,000 and help each of these families receive their child.

"That is our goal, that this event will bring home 21 children," Brewer said.

Nations said her designs for the show will consist of 16 to 20 different looks appropriate for spring, including dresses, shorts and casual-style pants. She said her silent auction item is a silk, net gown-style dress.

Brewer said she hopes the benefit spreads awareness of the adoption process.

"I'm hoping that awareness will be heightened more than anything," she said. "There's no way this would have happened unless it was not meant to be. God is truly in the details and has made everything happen -- put all the right people in our path at the right times."

The benefit will start with a cash bar and hors d'oeuvres at 6 p.m. Thursday at The Venue in Cape Girardeau. The fashion show will begin at 7:30 p.m., with the music and dancing to follow. Tickets are $25 for an individual or eight for $190. They can be purchased by calling Brewer at 271-1111, online at www.roomforonemorechild.org or by visiting Belladona Salon Spa and Boutique, Bella Italia Restaurant, The Library, C.P. McGinty Jewelers, Mac Con Company or Brewer Chain Saw Sales in Perryville, Mo.

rrolwing@semissourian.com

388-3654

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