THE FOUNDERS:
Rowena deeply believes that we should give back to the very people that are sacrificing their lives to defend our country and restore our freedom. Rowena is a well connected community leader and event organizer who has successfully organized charity “meet and greets” and fund raising events. Although she comes from a politically inclined family, she has no political aspirations. Her first love is charity work and giving back to those less fortunate. Rowena comes from a family of war Veterans. Her grandfather was a high ranking official in the Philippine Army who fought side by side with General Douglas McArthur and the Americans during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Her uncle retired from the US Air Force and was also a Veteran of the Korean War and her brother, a US Navy and a veteran of the Gulf War. Our men and women in uniform sacrifice so much for our FREEDOM and Rowena feels that we should always honor them by giving back in whatever capacity we can. This gave Rowena the impetus to start Shine Family Foundation.
AN EXCERPT FROM SEASON’s MAG and FIL-MAGAZINE: Rowena was discovered and recruited by a renowned fashion designer at the age of 17. Her career path in modeling took Rowena all over with long stints on the runway in Europe and Asia. She has been a model for internationally celebrated fashion designers like Versace, Custo of Madrid, Calvin Klein as well as Asia’s best, Nunu Guevarra, Ito Kurata, Louie Mamengo, just to name a few. For almost 20 years, she has been an active part of the fashion world and has been a celebrity guest in several popular TV shows in the Philippines, like “Chibugan Na,” “Katok Mga Misis,” “Eat Bulaga,” “Mula sa Puso Ng Mga Bituin,” and “Here’s Johnny with Johnny Litton. Rowena has also been featured and has graced the covers of magazines like: Women’s, MOD, Island Lifestyles, Season’s Magazine, etc and has likewise done catalogues for several European magazines. In 1995, Rowena was the first Filipina to win “Ms. Asia World” and since then has become a staunch supporter of women’s rights all over the world. Over the years, Rowena’s devoted her time in contributing to charity work and events. Although, living in Las Vegas, Rowena teaches and directs runway fashion shows and personality growth and development to young women both Las Vegas and California where she shares how to combine beauty and sophistication with simple elegance.
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 Les Krifaton Les Krifaton grew up in Montreal, Canada but spent many of his weekends in North Hero, Vermont where his family owned a property. He always admired how patriotic and proud Americans are and the love they have for their country. Les is a seasoned television journalist with more than 20 years of experience and one of the original “ON AIR” personalities when the Canadian Weather Network was launched in 1989. The same year a family sponsorship application to move to the US was submitted. His green card application was granted 13 years later. In 2002, he migrated to the U.S and in 2008, Les became a U.S. citizen. He went on to become a morning news anchor for CBS affiliate in Palm Springs, Ca. When the war broke out in 2003, Les spent three months assigned to Twentynine Palms Marine Base in Southern California. His first hand experience talking to military personnel and their families who were dealing with deployment, anxiety, and death led him to research the problems that families face during extended periods of deployments. This research exposed issues that were not being addressed adequately, in his opinion, and the experiences with these families in crisis had a profound impact. It was then that Les decided when he could try and help these families, he would. In March of 2010, SHINE FAMILY FOUNDATION was formed for that purpose. Les has a degree in Meteorology from Mississippi State and Creative Arts from John Abbott College in Montreal, Canada. He is also a licensed commercial pilot. He is currently the weekend weather anchor as well as a reporter for FOX5 in Las Vegas. . |
