By Milton Kirby | Braselton, GA | March 1, 2026

What began as a small lunch among six friends has grown into one of metro Atlanta’s most heartfelt annual traditions. On Saturday, February 28, 2026, the 16th Annual Red Shoe Lunch filled a ballroom at Chateau Elan Winery & Resort to capacity, with nearly every guest—women and a few men—wearing a shade of red. The color symbolized both celebration and urgency: a reminder that heart disease remains the leading cause of death for women.

A Movement Born From a Moment of Fear

The Red Shoe Lunch traces its origins to 2010, when six women gathered at a restaurant in Atlanta’s Phipps Plaza. They didn’t set out to start a movement; they simply came to support their friend, 36‑year‑old Tasha “Tee” Blount. Each woman wore red shoes, high heels, flats, slingbacks, and peep-toes; an outward symbol of unity that caught the attention of passersby. But the shoes represented something far deeper.

Just days earlier, Tee had been lying on an operating table preparing for a cardiac catheterization. As she waited, she overheard a nurse whisper, “Wow, she’s young.” It was the same phrase she had heard thirteen years earlier when her mother, Veronica Blount, underwent a quadruple bypass in Baltimore. Veronica survived the first surgery, required a second, and later died from coronary artery disease at just 46 years old.

Tee came from a family of women who died young. Her grandmother, Delores, died at 53. Her great-grandmother at 64. As Tee closed her eyes in that Atlanta operating room, she made a promise: if she woke up, she would fight to break the cycle.

From Six Women to a Community of Hundreds

Once released from the hospital, Tee invited her closest friends to lunch on what would have been her mother’s 56th birthday. She asked them to wear red shoes in her honor. The women passed around an iPad and donated to the American Heart Association. When the restaurant manager learned the meaning behind their gathering, he moved them to a private dining room at no charge.

That afternoon, Tee decided the lunch would become an annual event.

Six women have now grown into a community of roughly 200 attendees—and the number continues to rise. While the venue changes each year, the mission has remained constant: raise awareness about heart disease and educate the communities they call home.

A New Chapter: The Veronica Blount Memorial Foundation

For more than a decade, attendees paid for their meals and donated directly to the American Heart Association, raising nearly $20,000. But in 2021, Tee charged $22,000 to her personal credit card to cover event costs. “That was my wake-up call,” she said.

In August 2022, the Veronica Blount Memorial Foundation (VBMF) became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The Red Shoe Lunch is now its annual flagship event.

Tee admits she delayed applying for nonprofit status because she wasn’t sure she would live long enough to see it through. “Every woman in my mother’s immediate family died younger than their mother,” she said. “By this time next year, I will be the first to outlive my mother and my grandmother. And I plan to outlive my great-grandmother too.”

She credits access to cardiac care and the resources VBMF now provides for her longevity.

A Mission Rooted in Prevention

VBMF’s primary fundraising goal is simple but powerful: ensure every household in underserved communities has a blood pressure monitor. “Just like a smoke detector, blood pressure monitors save lives,” Tee said.

The work extends far beyond the luncheon. Volunteers identify neighborhoods with high need, distribute educational materials, and personally deliver monitors to residents.

The Women Behind the Work

The Red Shoe Lunch is powered by a large team of dedicated volunteers whose behind‑the‑scenes work makes the event possible each year. Among them, several leaders shared their perspectives with TSJ.:

• Mary Fondon, Co-Chair & Volunteer Relations Chair, emphasizes the scale of the effort. “It takes a lot of volunteers to deliver a flawless Red Shoe Lunch,” she said. She hopes every attendee will return next year and bring someone with them.

• Lisa Daniel, Fundraising Chair, brings her own lived experience to the mission. “I have gone through the fire and I don’t smell like smoke,” she said. Her goal is to ensure fewer people ever have to face the fire at all.

• Evie Fleming, Event Registration Chair, ensures the event runs smoothly, supported by her mother, April Woodyard from Columbia, SC and sister Wanda Simpkins, and longtime attendee Sally Richardson

Their stories reflect the spirit of the Red Shoe Lunch: community, compassion, and collective action.

Looking Ahead

Blount announced that the 17th Annual Red Shoe Lunch will return on February 27, 2027.

The Red Shoe Lunch continues to grow in size, purpose, and impact. With its nonprofit status secured, all proceeds now support the Veronica Blount Memorial Foundation’s work in underserved communities. The organization will continue its annual giving campaign to the American Heart Association through the Veronica Blount Memorial Fund.

What began as six women in red shoes is now a movement—one that is saving lives, one household at a time.

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