Main fundraiser photo

Pretty in Pink Project

Pretty in Pink Project

The Tulsa Pretty in Pink Project, an inaugural project of the Saint Zita Catholic Worker of Green Country, is collaborating with Abelina’s Boutique to provide young women in foster care with dresses for junior/senior prom.

The project is encouraging everyone to make tax-exempt monetary donations through April 1 at the boutique, 5219 S. Sheridan Road. The funds will be placed in an in-store account to provide high school women in the foster care system the chance to select a new prom dress. Counselors in the Department of Human Services system will refer the young women to the store.

Penny Lawrence, a volunteer with the project, said the group is asking for churches, schools, civic organizations and area businesses to consider sponsoring a prom dress for a young woman who may not be able to afford one. Organizations may make a direct, tax exempt contribution at Abelina’s Boutique in the Farm Shopping Center in person or by mail, at 5219 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 74145. Individuals and businesses can also sponsor a dress or dresses at the boutique. The first local business to sponsor a dress was The Phoenix Cafe, located at Sixth Street and Peoria Avenue, according to press information.

“High school prom is often considered a social apex of a girl’s high school career,” said Lawrence in a press release. “Looking back, I remember how stressful prom season could be for my classmates who didn’t have the resources to purchase a new dress, as well as the cost of shoes, hair and makeup. Some girls simply didn’t go to the prom because they didn’t have the resources.”

The project is named after the iconic 1980s John Hughes film “Pretty in Pink.” In it, Andie Walsh, played by actress Molly Ringwald, is a young woman from the “wrong side of the tracks” who excels at academics and her own fashion designs but can’t afford to buy a prom dress. So she creates one from a thrift store buy.

“I’ll never forget the scene where Andie is in the dress store looking at a beautiful dress, and she turns over the price tag with some figure that totally deflates her and dashes her hopes,” Lawrence said. “This is still an issue. We don’t want the dress to be the obstacle — we want a ‘Prom for All!’”

The situation is real for Jessica Spencer, a foster mother of three kids in the Tulsa County foster care system and who has fostered many more.

“The state of Oklahoma provides financial support to foster parents, but the first few months are extremely expensive,” Spencer said. “If you get placement of a teen girl this time of year, you have clothes and school supplies to buy. Often things like prom dresses are not bought because the funds are expended on things that are absolutely necessary.”

The project is also working on several ’80s-themed events to raise funds. The plan is to make the project an annual event.

Taken from Tulsa World article, Rita Sherrow, writer.

Organizer

Penny Lawrence
Organizer
Tulsa, OK

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