When nail tech Lorri Silvestre started a social club called Blue Moon Betties with a friend in 2013, her motivation was to raise awareness about biliary atresia, a life-threatening liver disease that affects newborns — including Silvestre’s oldest daughter, who received a live-person liver transplant at the age of 11 months. She assembled a group of women who share her interest in the vintage lifestyle of the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, along with her desire to make a difference where it counts most. The “Betties” support a variety of charitable endeavors and focus on giving back to their local communities.

Lorri Silvestre

Lorri Silvestre

The owner of Nail Candy by Lorri in Grover Beach, Calif.,  Silvestre is president of the Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo chapter of the Blue Moon Betties and, as club founder, she oversees three other chapters in Southern California. At the club’s monthly meetings, members coordinate their activities, which might include fundraisers, volunteer work, or raising awareness about important medical issues. “We do a yearly toy drive at Christmas time for the children of families in need,” says Silvestre. “We’ve done car washes, yard sales, bake sales, raffles, and barbeque dinners all in an effort to help others.”

Club members also share an appreciation for the vintage/pinup lifestyle. “We love everything from our parents’ and grandparents’ era — the cars, the clothes, the music, the furniture, the classy way of living,” she says. “I truly appreciate that innocent way of life. I love hearing all my mom’s stories about her life, playing dress up in her old clothes, as well as playing her collection of oldies but goodies from the ’40s and ’50s.” Above all, the club is about sisterhood and women empowering women. “It’s truly refreshing to see women thinking of others, lifting up strangers’ lives, and opening their hearts and trusting,” says Silvestre. “We all have our own lives, work, and families, but we make the time for each other no matter what we are doing. We embrace each other as sisters and love and respect each other.”

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