Red Sox wives, Kevin Faulk's new foundation raise money children's charities

They were held almost a mile apart, though two charities with ties to the local sports scene staged events on Tuesday night in Boston centered around the same goal: Helping children lives as healthily and happily as possible.

At Alex and Ani's on Newbury Street, Farrah Lester -- bride of pitcher Jon Lester -- brought together a bunch of her fellow Red Sox wives for a shopping event to benefit her husband's NVRQT initiative, which raises money for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. Fifteen percent of all sales made between 7 and 9 p.m. went directly to the cause, which was started by the Lesters last year, and will be hosting its second annual NVRQT Night at the House of Blues on July 29.

Farrah Lester is flanked by Amanda Bailey and Kelsey Ellsbury in the first photo below, while Hyla Ross, Lindsey Buchholz, and Kim Doubront (left to right) are in the second.

Around the same time that was going on, over at Abby Lane on Tremont Street, former Patriots' running back Kevin Faulk was holding the launch party for his new charity -- which, naturally, is titled the Kevin Faulk Foundation.

The party itself was in support of the Kevin Faulk Youth Summer Football Camp, though the charity's overarching purpose is to "to support any and all non-profit organizations and activities with a specific mission to ensure that our youth have a healthy balance between academics and athletics and are well prepared for educational and athletic experiences during their school years and beyond." Started in honor of Faulk's mother, the Foundation aims to do that by placing an emphasis on the educational mentorship of student-athletes.

Thursday night he'll be at the Red Sox game -- watching Lester pitch, incidentally -- with a couple of the party attendees who joined him in launching things on Tuesday.