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The student news site of Clayton High School.

The Globe

The student news site of Clayton High School.

The Globe

Underprivileged girls nationwide granted dresses of their dreams

Freshman Carly Beard, one of two CHS girls involved in the Cinderella Project, urges high school girls with extra dresses to donate.
Freshman Carly Beard, one of two CHS girls involved in the Cinderella Project, urges high school girls with extra dresses to donate.

Whenever students think of a charity project, they usually think of serving in a food kitchen or having a bake sale. While all these methods are effective and respectable, The Cinderella Project is a totally unique way to provide for the people who are neglected; the people who are missing something that may not seem as important as it actually is: a prom dress.

The Cinderella project is a nationwide effort to provide a prom dress for girls in need.  School counselors refer junior and senior girls to participate in this project.

According to the project statement, nearly 4000 gowns were collected and many schools participated, giving girls the opportunity of a lifetime, the opportunity to go to prom. After these dresses are collected, they are distributed to girls with referrals from schools at an event at Cinderella Boutique.

Freshmen Carly Beard and Caroline Avery are two CHS girls involved in this project.

Beard heard of it, and contacted the project to become more involved.

“It is an event where prom dresses are collected and sold at a menial cost,” Avery said. “It was created to promote self-esteem and confidence in these young women, who deserve to go to their school prom.”

Giving a girl a dress may not seem as important as feeding a child, but The Cinderella Project gives everyone a reason to give. First, the dresses donated are from used closets.

“Dresses lying around in closets, never to be worn again, could be changing the lives of young women, granting them that perfect princess day that they will remember forever,” Avery said.

The idea is simple: people can donate unused dresses that are lying around; they could change a girls’ high school experience.

“The success of this project may not bring world peace or cease world hunger,” Beard said, “but it brings the community together for a deserving cause.”

One of the girls who benefitted said in an interview on the homepage of the project’s website: “It was a blessing to get a donated dress.  I definitely wouldn’t have gone to prom without it.”

Dianne Swain, one of the seamstresses involved in the project, became a really big part in helping these girls have that special prom that they so desired.

“These young ladies were of all sizes and shapes and they came in with one purpose: picking out a prom dress,” Swain said.

The Cinderella Project not only helps them pick out a prom dress that they might not have been able to afford otherwise, but it gives those who have a negative attitude about their body image a way to be and feel beautiful, as any girl should on her prom night.

The Cinderella Project revealed one big thing to Swain that all these girls wanted to do one thing: twirl. They wanted to feel like a princess, like Cinderella.

“I want to share with you one commonality they all had,” Swain said. “They all held out their hands, stood up straight and just spun.”

To feel like a princess and twirl one’s fears away is exactly what this project is about. It gives the girls who need it a chance to revel in their own beauty for once. A high school girl should not be kept from going to one of the most important events of her high school career simply because she does not have a dress.

“Imagine being a senior who cannot attend prom for you simply cannot afford a dress,” Avery said. “Imagine looking for inexpensive dresses, but not being able to find the correct size or fit, giving up all hopes to appear at the dazzling event.”

While it may be that the girls simply cannot afford a prom dress, many of them cannot find the perfect dress that fits them.

“Over half the girls referred to the project wear over a size 14, and they should not be deprived because they cannot afford and/or find a dress their size,” Avery said. “It is important for the girls to find their perfect dress.”

Dress Collections in the Metro St Louis area started in December and will continue until Feb. 28, 2011. The Cinderella Boutique will take shape at Mid Rivers Mall. Look for the Cinderella Project on the second level of Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters, between JC Penney and Victoria’s Secret. Private Shopping experiences will take place March 1 through March 11. The Boutique will open to the public on Saturday March 12 at 10 am. Starting March 12, any young lady can shop for her perfect gown for $25, at an eventh they call Pink Saturday (as opposed to Black Friday).

Not only has this project had an enormous impact on the girls it has helped, but it has made an impact on those actively involved as well.

“My work with the Cinderella Project has opened my eyes to how innovative helping others can be,” Beard said. “I have been inspired to invest myself in eco-friendly, effective charities that want to improve our world. The Cinderella Project is changing the world, one dress at a time.”

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Underprivileged girls nationwide granted dresses of their dreams