Pastry and Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund launch movement to empower girls

Dance shoe company ‘steps up’ to help girls and young women overcome trauma

ATLANTA (May 20, 2021) – Atlanta-based dance shoe company, Pastry, announced it is ‘stepping up’ and joining in the fight with Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund to support girls and young women that have experienced the trauma of abuse and neglect.

With a shared focus on empowering girls and women to reach their full potential, the alliance will focus specifically on young women 17-22 years old, both in and out of the foster care system, to help develop the skills and resources needed to navigate their journey into adulthood.

“I couldn’t be more excited that Pastry has aligned with Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund,” said Vanessa Simmons, co-founder of Pastry. “Companies need to care, and I’m so very proud that Pastry is demonstrating, firsthand, that we care to help ‘at-risk,’ abused and neglected girls and young women in our partnership with Janie’s Fund.”

At the recent National Dance Coaches Association meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, Pastry announced this new “movement,” relaunching its famed dance shoe styles and its commitment to Janie’s Fund.

“Our motto is ‘buy a pair, show you care,’” said Graydon McCrite, vice president with Pastry. “We are reaching out to high school, college and professional dance teams, dance studios and retailers to step up and help Pastry support Janie’s Fund.”

The Pastry Movement, simply put, is the company’s focus on helping empower women to move past trauma. Donating a percentage of proceeds to Janie’s Fund, each pair of Pastry shoes sold will help young women being served through Youth Villages’ LifeSet program.

“Janie’s Fund seeks to align our work with organizations that both share our values and are equally committed to empowering girls and women in today’s society,” said Richard Shaw, Chief Development Officer for Janie’s Fund and Youth Villages. “The last year has painfully reinforced the tremendous need for effective services, especially for young women (ages 17-22) who are being thrust into adulthood without the resources, support and care they deserve to thrive.

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LifeSet serves as a bridge to hope, healing and opportunity that can put each young person, particularly those who experienced foster care, on a path to success.

“Together with organizations like Pastry, it is our goal to make the LifeSet program available to every young person in our country,” Shaw added.

For more information about Pastry, visit www.lovepastry.com. To learn more about Janie’s Fund, visit www.janiesfund.org. For more about LifeSet, click here.

About Pastry
Pastry, America’s #1 Dance Sneaker™, is an athletic footwear company worn by all types of dancers because of its comfortable footbed and innovative styles, colors and patterns. Founded in 2007 by celebrity fashionistas Angela and Vanessa Simmons, along with their father and hip-hop royalty Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, Pastry today is a leader for high school, college and professional dance teams, as well as studios and dance retailers. With a lion’s share of the dance industry being female, Pastry’s alignment with Janie’s Fund, an organization focused on serving girls and young women, makes great sense. Pastry prides itself on being a company that cares. For more information, visit www.LovePastry.com.

About Janie’s Fund
Janie’s Fund is a philanthropic initiative created by Steven Tyler in partnership with one of America’s most effective nonprofits, Youth Villages. Named after Aerosmith’s 1989 hit, “Janie’s Got a Gun,” which tells the story of a young girl who was abused by her father, Janie’s Fund provides hope and healing for many of our country’s most vulnerable girls who have survived the trauma of abuse and neglect. Through Janie’s Fund, Tyler is using his big voice to give a voice to thousands of victims who haven’t had one. For more information, visit JaniesFund.org. For more about Steven Tyler, including his bio, visit StevenTyler.com.

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