As the Tutu Posh Boutique nears its first anniversary on the Village Green at Smithville, store owner and Jackson resident Stephanie Hebron has found a way to use her skills to benefit FACES Autism Support Groups of New Jersey.
Her latest design, “You are My Sunshine Tutu Set” is now on display at the shop. FACES will receive 50 percent of all sales generated from the outfit.
The tutu set consists of a white hand-embroidered T-shirt, which bears the colorful autism puzzle piece symbol on the front, interfaced with Mickey Mouse ears.
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The second piece of the outfit includes a tutu, which matches the color scheme of the puzzle pieces on the T-shirt.
Sold as an ensemble or separately, the outfit, which can be adjusted to the tastes of boys—minus the tutu, of course—was inspired by her son Sean, who was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old.
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Hebron, who has been designing tutus for young children for years, said she is happy to help out groups like FACES because, thanks to the programming of support groups of this kind, her son has greatly improved in his ability to socialize.
“There’s not too many special needs groups around,” Hebron said. “I basically wanted to do something nice and help them out.”
Because groups like FACES are always in need of funding, she added, they can’t go “further in helping children.”
Hebron said she got the idea earlier in the month as she was browsing social media website Facebook.
She decided to act quickly and reached out to the executive director of FACES, who got on board with her idea.
“When I have something on my mind, I do it. I don’t wait,” she said. “It’s a good cause.”
