On the morning after Halloween Joy Richard (l) and Kate Palmer (r) of LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails) suited up in grass skirts and leis and improvised a hula at On The Rise’s table at the 5K Superhero Run/Walk through downtown Cambridge.

The two were there to share the fun at the costume race event, but they had another mission as well: to get the word out about LUPEC’s upcoming Annual Fall Fundraiser, the Boston Tiki Bash on November 14 at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in South Boston.

The Island-themed party will feature Polynesian-style food and drink, live entertainment and prizes. It’s a benefit for On The Rise, a Cambridge-based non-profit that aids women who are homeless or in crisis here and in the Greater Boston area.

The festive mood at the morning-after-Halloween race, with its throng of costumed racers and observers at Pacific and Sidney Street, made the event an obvious venue for LUPEC activists. Good times and good causes go together for LUPEC. The unique mission statement on their website makes it clear up front that fun is an essential part of the commitment:

“In addition to preserving our own personal Joie de Vivre by guaranteeing members one good cocktail party every month, LUPEC Boston strives to enhance and improve the lives of Boston-area women through fundraising events for local women’s charities.”

LUPEC was established in 2001 in Pittsburgh; Boston’s chapter was started up in 2007 by Misty Kalkofen, now its president. Kalkofen is a well-known Cambridge presence with advanced degrees in two arenas that aren’t often paired: Theology and Mixology. She holds an M.A. from Harvard Divinity School and a certification from Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) of New York. Her career as a professional bartender has included tours of duty in several local bars.

“Cambridge is definitely where I got my chops as far as bartending is concerned, having worked at the B-Side, the Lizard Lounge, West Side Lounge and Green Street,” she notes. Currently she’s working—and conducting research of course—at Drink on Congress Street in Boston.

Nostalgia highlights at the Tiki party will include ‘50s music by DJ Brother Cleve and demonstrations of cocktail and Tiki drink mixing. Full information and tickets are at http://lupecboston.com/2009/10/20/announcing-the-lupec-boston-tiki-bash.