Despite the snowfall, Prince George Dress Dreams had a very successful day collecting dresses for some deserving girls on Sunday in the parking lot of local boutique Shhhh Gifts.
Mandy Paavola and her partner Liz Laprairie have a closet that would be envied by any girl, chock full of dresses in all colours of the rainbow in sizes varying from 0 to 28.
While they may look like they are hoarding more than 200 graduation dresses, on March 18 the dresses will be donated to very deserving women.
To date, Prince George Dress Dreams has 12 confirmed girls (and women) who will be given the royal treatment on March 18 when they get to pick out their new outfits.
This is the first year for the organization and the number of girls wasn't important for them.
"It didn't really matter how many girls we [got] to be honest - if we'd only found two girls, we'd be ecstatic," said Paavola.
"A lot of our girls are through the
Elizabeth Fry Society. They are women who aren't necessarily teenagers. For instance, we have one woman who is in her 40s and is
graduating from high school this year."
"You want to have two to three times the dresses as girls so they have a lot of choice. We are still taking nominations for girls, right up until March 16," said Paavola.
A local bridal shop has donated their space on March 18 for the girls to make their dress selections.
"The girls can expect a fun event, with a DJ from the Entertainment Group and it's going to be a party," said Paavola.
Every time a girl finds the dress they are going to take home, we are going to create an uproar. We want it to be a celebration of what these girls have gone through and how much they have accomplished."
Donations of dresses, accessories, shoes, purses and new nylons in every shade and size are still needed.
"We also will take in any samples that people have lying around their house. If you get samples from the cosmetics counters and you don't know what to do them - send them our way because we will give them out to the girls.
To donate a dress or accessories or to
nominate someone, contact [email protected].
