Time to cue Donna Fargo's, " The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA"
Posted on 04/22/2002 7:10:10 AM PDT by Pharmboy
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Jennifer Mullins has visions of the perfect prom dress. "My favorite color is pink," said Mullins, 18, of Bickmore, "and definitely something with straps because I don't do strapless."
As a senior at Clay County High School, Mullins will be one of the first on Monday to choose from about 400 free dresses donated by a private girls school in New York City.
Students at the Hewitt School in Manhattan, where the yearly tuition is nearly $20,000, are donating new and used evening gowns, purses, jewelry, makeup and shoes to their counterparts in Clay County, where the median annual income is $16,000.
About 15 parents, students and others from Hewitt are scheduled to arrive by private jet at Charleston's airport Monday. From there, they will travel by van about 60 miles north to the school for the dress selection.
Many of the new dresses were obtained by Hewitt parents with connections in the fashion industry. Others were collected or donated by students for the May 11 prom.
Claire Henry, 17, of Manhattan, who was to visit West Virginia Monday, said she sees Operation Prom Dress as a way to repay some of the help New York received after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
"This is our way of saying 'Thank you,'" Henry said. "The girls are going to be so happy, and to see the smiles on their faces is going to be great. It's every girl's dream to go to prom, and to be like Cinderella is going to make their day."
Clay, a mountainous town along the Elk River with about 600 residents, has no stoplight. The high school is the only one in the county, where unemployment was 12 percent in March, more than double the national rate.
Still, Clay County High is a National School of Excellence and has one of the highest attendance records in West Virginia.
"The girls are so excited, and the boys have pitched in and built clothing racks," said Clay County High principal Cindy Willis. "All the girls are included whether they are needy or not. They appreciate this offer of friendship."
Operation Prom Dress grew out of conversations between Willis and Dena McKelvey, whose daughter is a junior at Hewitt. McKelvey and her husband, Andy, had helped Clay County residents in the past through the McKelvey Foundation by providing scholarships and clothing.
Linda Gibbs, head of Hewitt School, said her students are taught the importance of community service.
"All of our students are young women of privilege," Gibbs said. "They may not all be wealthy, but they all have great opportunities. That's why we believe strongly that those who have much have an obligation to give back."
Some of the Clay County girls are to make a trip to Hewitt later this year.
"I think the relationship will be as beneficial for the girls from New York as it will be for our girls," Willis said. "Our kids are kind and generous, and I think they have a lot to offer, too."
AP-ES-04-22-02 0949EDT
What do you Freepers think?
One thing though. They should not give makeup. Old or used makeup can be harmful.
Clay County High School
c/o Cindy Willis
1 Panther Drive
Clay, WV 25043
304-587-4226
The prom is May 11.
Really? Tell that to the girl who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a prom dress and now will have one to wear. I bet she would disagree with you.
The address is posted.......send them a cash donation why don't you!
In case any of you folks missed this in the article, just wanted to let you know that this isn't some poor ol' country school where the kids can hardly read or write...
The world is full of well to do people....nothing wrong with that or with them giving to those less fortunate. I think it's a very nice gesture that will be very appreciated and remembered by the receivers all their lives.
Time to cue Donna Fargo's, " The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA"
Being a NYer, I'm a bit sensitive to this type of thing and appreciate yours and others' perspectives.
Well, a new dress is always appreciated. Here in the school district where I reside (suburb of Seattle), they have a sort-of swap shop. Girls bring a prom dress they may have already worn, and exchange it for a different one. I think this is a great idea and helps with the problem of spending so much money on one dress that is worn once.
It's not easy being poor but sometimes a gesture lights up your life in ways that others can't imagine.
there is so much wrong with your post, I hardly know where to start.
(1) you are in NO position to determine what is and is not of value to the recipients.
(2) a free trip? what a joke. these girls at the private schools are more likely to take trips (all of their trips are free to them, btw) to Hilton Head and Bermuda, Clay WVA ain't on their typical vacation itinerary.
(3) while it may seem silly to those of us years past prom-time, but to my high school junior daughter (junior prom this past weekend) and her friends, this one night is very important. and again, you are in NO position to argue the right v. wrong of that thinking.
(4) get off your high horse about the connection to 9/11. It was a 17 y/o talking who is involved in some way with community service. we should all applaud their efforts even if they lack proper perspective about they are doing.
(5) that it is *only* girls helping girls, SO WHAT? why not view it as people helping people (if that'll make you feel better)
My conclusion - you're a major grump. Get over your bad self, will ya.
Pharmboy asked for opinions, he got one. You don't like it, find another thread.
When I was in high school (seems so long ago now), there were more occasions to wear a gown than just Prom. We had a formal dance in the winter and a semi-formal after Homecoming, and another for Valentine's day. If you were a girl, it was the kiss of death to be seen in the same dress twice! The boys at the dance wouldn't ever notice, but girls keep track of these things. Why? Because we're catty b!tches, that's why.
I saved money by sewing my high-school dance dresses. Another time I found a dress at a garage sale for $15, worn once (by a girl who did not attend the same school, so I felt safe buying it--no one would have remembered it from a previous dance). Yet another time I made significant alterations to a dress of my mother's. Then there were all the formal dances in college, each requiring a new dress (though by that time it was acceptable to borrow a dress from a friend. I have both borrowed and loaned in my time). Then friends started getting married, and I started a small collection of useless bridesmaid dresses. Worn once. These things are only good for weddings or proms!
A couple years after I graduated, my parents had a big garage sale. I had eight floor-length gowns to donate to the cause, priced them at $15 (because I remembered the red dress I bought at that garage sale, and how nice it was to look so great at the Valentine's Day dance for so little money). The dresses were snapped up in less than half an hour.
The other great thing about this is that the dresses are probably coming from dressmakers or very high-end retail outlets that simply aren't found in the Midwest--so there will be virtually NO CHANCE that any of these girls will arrive at their prom only to find two or more girls wearing the exact same dress. That was almost as big a faux pas as wearing the same dress twice.
The issue of formal dresses for females has never really entered my consciousness (until now) and I think that the case can be made that this is a unique issue and the transfer of once-worn gowns is OK.
What's nice about this story is the attitude of both the girls from NYC and W (by G-D) VA. My feelings are less mixed now and I do feel better about it.
Which is not to say that TS's opinion was not welcome here--thanks for posting your take on this also.
May I Have This Dress? Privileged New York City Students Donate Prom Gowns to W.Va. Girls
By Allison Barker Associated Press Writer
Published: Apr 22, 2002
CLAY, W.Va. (AP) - It was not her favorite color, and it hung from a rack made from two-by-fours and pipes, but it was the perfect prom dress for Jennifer Mullins: It had straps, it came with a wrap, and it was free. The 18-year-old made her choice Monday at a makeshift boutique in the Clay County High School gym, stocked with about 450 gowns donated by students and parents at an exclusive private girls school in New York City.
In an event dubbed Operation Prom Dress, students at the Hewitt School in Manhattan, where the yearly tuition is nearly $20,000, sent the new and used dresses - along with shoes, gloves, jewelry and other accessories - to girls in this poverty-stricken Appalachian county where the median annual household income was about $21,000 as of 1997.
All of Clay County High's 325 or so girls were allowed to select a dress and accessories. So were some teachers who will be chaperones at the May 11 prom.
"I found a great dress. It's not pink, but it's really pretty. It's black and sort of blue and shiny," Mullins said.
"I love it. I feel so elegant," said Katie Walker, 18, after trying on a pink strapless number with sequined trim along the bodice. "I saw this when we were putting out the dresses. So when it was my turn, I went straight to it, tried it on and it fit."
Most of the dresses arrived by truck last week. Six Hewitt students, six parents and two faculty members flew by private jet Monday to Charleston, then traveled 60 miles by van to bring the last 50 dresses to Clay. "This is so wonderful. It makes me excited for my own prom. The girls are so nice and welcoming, said Claire Henry, 17, of New York City. "The drive from Charleston was very beautiful. Everything is so green. It's very different from New York City."
Henry said she sees Operation Prom Dress as a way to say thank you for some of the help New York received after the terrorist attacks.
Clay, a no-stoplight town of about 600, is situated in a coal-and-timber area where unemployment is 12 percent, one-third of the children live in poverty and about a quarter of the homes are trailers. Still, Clay County High is a National School of Excellence with one of the highest attendance records in West Virginia.
"The girls are so excited, and the boys have pitched in and built clothing racks," said Principal Cindy Willis. "All the girls are included whether they are needy or not. They appreciate this offer of friendship." Shawn Hardman, 18, who helped to build the dress racks, said he did not feel left out.
"The girls' dresses are much more expensive than what boys spend. We may only have to spend $100 on a tux and flowers, but the dresses can be $300, $400, $500," he said. Operation Prom Dress grew out of conversations between Clay County High's principal and Dena McKelvey, whose daughter is a junior at Hewitt. McKelvey and her husband, Andy, had helped Clay County residents in the past through the McKelvey Foundation by providing scholarships and clothing.
"Our girls in New York go to so many bat mitzvahs and parties that they have a lot of dresses. You wear a dress once, you can't wear it again. That's just not cool," McKelvey said.
Linda Gibbs, head of the Hewitt School, said she hopes to involve other New York private schools in Operation Prom Dress and perhaps make it a regular event. "All of our students are young women of privilege," Gibbs said. "They may not all be wealthy, but they all have great opportunities. That's why we believe strongly that those who have much have an obligation to give back."
We recently gave some hand-me-downs from our daughter to some folks we know. They're not destitute, but my wife happens to be in a network that has better than average hand-me downs, and we pass them on.
One of the items was a very pretty easter dress (which we'd bought). The girl wore it to church on Sunday, and she was so excited to wearing it, it made the whole thing worthwhile.
I think the girls who sent them will get the same satisfaction. Good for them. (And note that not all of these dresses are used: they scoured for donations, too.)
For some reason I had you pegged as a male. Heck, maybe you are a male. But whatever the case may be, my opinion of you has forever changed..... ;-)
You bring up a good point. If more people did more acts like this we could thumb our noses at big government and tell tem we don't need them.
Forty acres and a mule
A chicken in every pot
A Prom dress & a tux for every teenager.
Is this a great country or what?
And people wonder why it took so long for us to let them vote...
*grinning, ducking, and running :-)*
I don't know what to make of it. Wonder how much of a tax deduction Daddy was able to take off for these charitable donations?
Thank you, Pharmboy. It's nice to know there are still some people on FR willing to listen to alternative points of view like adults, instead of just tossing around personal insults like several of the jerks in this thread did.
Be careful Madeline, you're stating politically incorrect opinions. I dared to state an INCORRECT OPINION on the matter and was run through the shredder above.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.