FIRST RESPONSE TO FASHION: Family is Always the First Responder

FIRST RESPONSE TO FASHION

Family is Always the First Responder

This year, First Response to Fashion turns its lens to the unsung heroes behind the heroes: the families. The spouses who notice the silence. The children who sense the distance. The parents who wait by the phone. PTSD doesn’t clock out at the end of a shift, and neither does its impact on the people who love our first responders most.

Join us on October 3, 2026, at 6:00 PM at Sherwood Motorcars in Sherwood Park for an unforgettable evening where fashion becomes a force for healing, and family takes centre stage.

Why This Year’s Theme Matters

Our frontline workers carry what most of us will never see. And behind them, quietly absorbing the ripple effects of that trauma, are their families. A first responder will shield the people they love most from the memories they carry, often at their own cost. That weight is real. That silence is real. And the need to break it has never been more urgent.

PTSD is not a solo battle. Recovery isn’t either.

Proceeds from this gala support HiMARC (Heroes in Mind Advocacy and Research Consortium) through the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation, funding life-saving PTSD research and therapy that gives our heroes, and their families, a path forward.