OUR STORY

 

On December 10, 2012 Angelina Roberto was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL...) and then later diagnosed with Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive (Ph+) Acute Lymploblastic Leukemia (ALL) at the tiny age of 2 1/2 yrs old. As many of you could imagine, that is a day that her family's world was turned upside down, it's also the day that marks the beginning of Angelina's fight against leukemia. Angelina comes from a very STRONG amazing family and will fight this!

 

For those of you that do not know, Angelina is the daughter of Ed Roberto and Crystal Reina Roberto and sister of older brother Dante.

 

In March of 2012...Before Angelina was even sick...Angelina's Grandmother, Laura Reina and Angelina's Mother, Crystal Roberto created a business called "Charitique"...

 

Their mission was: To make customers feel good about both buying items that they love and helping others in need.

 

At the core of Charitique rests the promise to raise not only donations but awareness about pediatric cancer that affect thousands of children and their families each year.

 

Since its premiere in March 2012, Charitique has provided women and children with the unique opportunity to enjoy shopping for stylish clothes, accessories, and gifts while gaining satisfaction from helping others in need. Focused on raising money for charity, Charitique donates 100% of the profits from its “featured item” sales to Reina’s 501c3 non-profit organization “The Charitique Foundation”. They also contribute 10% of their profits from all other merchandise sales to the Foundation, so shoppers looking to help a worthy cause through their purchases are not limited to buying only the month’s featured item in order to make a difference in the lives of others.

 

The Charitique Foundation was born in March 2013 after Reina’s granddaughter Angelina was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and after many generous donations and several benefits to raise money Reina decided to help other families by opening her own organization for families less fortunate than hers.

 

After starting Charitique, Reina was touched not only by the outpouring of support from shoppers, but also by the unanticipated generosity of designers who, once they learned what Charitique was all about, offered substantial discounts on merchandise in order to help Reina raise even more profits for her organization.

 

The concept behind Charitique blossomed from Reina’s own personal experiences alongside family and dear friends whose lives were altered by various disorders and diseases. Reina’s husband, Mayor Michael Reina of Jackson, lost his brother in the September 11, 2001 tragedy; three weeks later, his widowed sister-in-law gave birth to an autistic son, which personally familiarized the family with the struggles of Autism. Reina also knows the pain of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) first-hand through a very close family friend whose wife already suffered from the disease for over 25 years when his daughter was also diagnosed with MS. Reina remembers, “For me, this heartbreaking news about my friend’s daughter was a defining moment. My heart was filled with a mixture of emotions, and I knew right then that the business venture I had been working on for three months would have to focus on charity. I wanted to give hope to those who need it and to empower others to help.” The cherry on the cake came a short nine months later when Reina’s granddaughter became ill with a disease they would never wish on anyone.