By O’Connor Daniel | Reporter

Rows of chairs lined the grand upstairs ballroom of Hotel 1928 Thursday evening as volunteers hustled under chandeliers and balloon arches to prepare for Mission Waco’s annual fashion show, Fashion With a Passion.

Held 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., the event brought together local fashion vendors, volunteer models and community supporters — all to raise money for Mission Waco’s Creative Arts Program, which provides free theatre, visual art, music and dance classes to youth in Waco.

This year’s fashion show was presented by the First National Bank of Central Texas and featured 28 local volunteer models. It kicked off with volunteer models strutting down the runway in looks from local Waco boutiques. Guests filled the ballroom, clapping and cheering as each model showcased their outfit. The energy was celebratory — less like a formal fundraiser, more like a lively reunion of friends gathered for a cause, according to Mission Waco’s director of events and marketing, Megan Yingst-Coats.

“We have ladies who’ve been coming to watch this show for nearly 20 years,” she said.

Yingst-Coats, originally from Indiana, joined Mission Waco’s staff after moving through a deeply personal experience.

“I had had a miscarriage right before that and was in a really dark place,” she said. “I told myself I needed to find a healthy organization to volunteer with.”

With a background in event planning, Yingst-Coats officially joined the staff, coordinating events like this one.

“They embraced me well,” she said. “It brought me out of that ugly, dark hole I was in. I’m driven to do better and be better by helping other people.”

Mission Waco’s Creative Arts Program includes four branches — visual arts, music, dance and year-round theatre — and serves about 100 kids annually at no cost to families.

“There’s something for everyone at Mission Waco,” Yingst-Coats said. “And I would hope the audience sees that people are doing something great and says, ‘I want to be a part of that.’”

In addition to the arts program, Mission Waco runs 18 different ministries and programs across the city. Proceeds from their resale store, The Clothesline, go toward supporting The Manna House, the organization’s residential drug and alcohol recovery program. They also operate a greenhouse, a restaurant and a social services office.

For Houston senior Emi Law, an apparel merchandising student at Baylor, interning with Mission Waco has offered a unique opportunity to merge community service with her studies. As part of her internship, Law helped coordinate vendor outreach — securing raffle items and clothing from local Waco boutiques featured in the show.

“It was great working with them, because I got to see so many different people from so many different backgrounds,” Law said.

She hopes more students realize that community service doesn’t have to feel like a chore.

“Giving back to the community doesn’t have to be boring,” she said. “It can be fun, like through a fashion show or raffle items that were graciously donated by members of the community.”

While the night sparkled with glitz and gold, the impact reached much deeper — helping empower young people through creativity, one program at a time.