Alaine Bernat was already a familiar face at Cafe Hey before she joined up with roller derby. However, after graduating the derby training course and taking on the derby name of “Glitter Head-Splitter #1/5”, she was drafted to my team- the Black Widows, where she shared an energizing team spirit and an eagerness to be a better derby player. During games, while waiting to play, you could always see her eng…aged and encouraging face smiling and rooting for her fellow teammates. I am the coordinator for “Community Involvement” for the league, and Alaine would always be one of the first to volunteer for charity events such as cooking for residents at Ronald McDonald House or playing bingo with vets living at James A. Haley hospital. Since Alaine rode a scooter, she carpooled with me to some of the more remote practices for our team. Rides with Alaine, aka Glitter, were companionable- she is a thoughtful and insightful conversationalist but she doesn’t mind silence either. Thus I learned to know Alaine and appreciate her friendship.
Glitter was riding her scooter on September 8th when she was hit by a truck running a red light. She fractured her hip, tore open her thigh, and broke several bones in her hand. She was wearing her helmet and that certainly prevented her from suffering worse than a great gash in her scalp. While thoroughly beaten up, she is very lucky to be alive. She will require hip replacements periodically throughout the rest of her life and it will be several months until she’ll be able to walk again, but she will walk.
Alaine turns 25 on October 16th, so her friends are organizing a marvelous party to raise funds and celebrate her life. The attached press release gives the same story and more details about the party but I wanted to share my personal experience with you. I am also sending this information in the hopes that you will pass it on,..please pass it on to anyone who you think would come to this event and celebrate a fine woman, please pass it on to people that love good music, who would like some homemade baked goods, who likes getting good deals and please pass it on to anyone who might have items to donate towards raising money for her care. As I’ve been helping to organize the event, I speak with more and more people who know Alaine and are saddened to hear the misfortune that has befallen this lovely kind girl. In Tampa, where everyone knows everyone, it’s good to know we all know someone nice and now we can do something for her.
Sincerely,
Anne Vela
http://thebricksybor.com/giftsforglitter.jpg
Donations for silent auction and raffles please contact:
Anne Vela
anne.vela@gmail.com
(813) 810-0814
Nicole Abbett 
