For Immediate Release: 2.26.08

WHO:              

Former Manhattan prosecutor and best-selling crime novelist Linda Fairstein, one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children.

Linda Fairstein served as the Bureau Chief of the pioneering Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit, New York County District Attorney’s Office where she supervised Manhattan cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and homicides arising from these crimes.

In addition to authoring an internationally best-selling series of crime novels featuring Manhattan Prosecutor Alexandra (Alex) Cooper, a character based on her life as a prosecutor, Fairstein is a media consultant with the major networks and the source of inspiration for producer Dick Wolf as he developed the television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999. The drama’s prosecutor, Ms. Alex Cabot (played by Stephanie March) is modeled on Fairstein's career.

WHAT:            

Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s 8th annual signature Mending Broken Hearts with Hope Luncheon featuring:

• 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.:
•  Designers’ Trunk Show Boutique both Friday and Saturday, February 29 and March 1, 2008, featuring 18 exclusive vendors.
• 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• General reception with Linda Fairstein
• Silent Auction
• Raffle
• 2:00 p.m.:
• Press Conference in Board Room (North Mezzanine level) featuring Linda Fairstein

The luncheon will be followed by a 15-minute press conference where Ms. Fairstein will entertain questions from local media representatives.

WHERE:          

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

280 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples

WHEN:            

Friday, February 29, 2008

(Times are approximate)

Funds raised during the Mending Broken Hearts with Hope Luncheon benefit the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, Collier County’s only certified domestic violence center; creating a community without domestic violence so that every home is a safe haven for the family it shelters.

To learn more about the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, please call 239-775-3862, or visit www.naplesshelter.org

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The Shelter for Abused Women & Children helps adult and child victims and survivors of domestic violence through safety, intervention and support; educates the public about domestic violence; and advocates for social change against domestic violence. For more information, please contact us at 239-775-3862, or visit us online at: www.naplesshelter.org

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Tracy Southers, tracy@wordplayinc.com, 239-936-1903

Mary Ann T. Green, mgreen@naplesshelter.org, 239-775-3862, ext. 211