When Cinderella wanted to go to the ball, she was lucky enough to have a fairy godmother to give her a beautiful dress. But not all girls have mice and godmothers to make their dreams come true. That’s where the Cinderella Project at Elon University comes in.
The Cinderella Project is a national nonprofit organization that promotes confidence and self esteem of financially challenged young women by providing dresses for formal events, reducing the financial burden that associated with attending such events.
Every year, Cinderella Project volunteers collect prom and formal dresses from students for local girls who cannot afford them. Currently, Elon’s chapter works only with Cummings High School in Burlington, but the executive board is looking to add more schools.
To encourage donations, volunteers will be doing a Dorm Storm March 18-19. Members will be going around with flyers and knocking on doors to ask students to bring back dresses from spring break. Dresses can be dropped off in Moseley 230.
Collecting dresses is just one part of the Cinderella Project. It does much more than give the girls a dress they’ll wear once — it also empowers them.
Every spring before Cummings’ prom, the Cinderella Project hosts a conference that focuses on self-esteem in females. This year, the theme is Be-YOU-tiful, and the conference will be April 18 in the Numen Lumen Pavilion.
“During the conference, we have workshops geared toward things like body image, having a safe prom night, how to apply makeup — things of that nature,” said senior and executive board member Desiree Porter. “We also invite a keynote speaker who will be covering topics like self-image.”
When they enter the conference, the girls are paired with a Elon student as their “fairy godmother.”
“[Fairy godmothers] pretty much serve as mentors,” said senior and executive board member Kenna Meyerhoff. “They go with the girls through the workshops all day.”
For some students, the bond between mentor and mentee lasts longer than just the conference.
“I was at the high school the other day, and one of the girls said, ‘Yeah, after the conference I came to Elon to hang out with my mentor,’” Meyerhoff said. “Things like that do happen, and it’s just from one day of time spent with these girls.”
Porter emphasized the importance of reaching out to the community and of the connections students make with the girls.
“I really like how we can serve as a conduit between the two communities, connecting Elon with the outer Burlington community,” Porter said. “I think it’s great to form those relationships that can continue beyond this conference.”
After a day of workshops and activities, the girls scramble for the moment they have waited for — selecting their dresses.
“Once they find the perfect dress, we have makeup artists that will do their makeup and teach them how to do it to match their dress,” Porter said.
Additionally, the project gives out gift bags and jewelry so the girls can perfect their looks.
Last year, the Cinderella Project hosted 50 participants and had 35 volunteers, but they hope to increase these numbers this year.
Senior Danielia Dwyer discovered the Cinderella Project when she met Porter their freshman year. She was excited and moved by the project and has worked with it ever since.
Now a senior preparing to graduate, she fully understands the impact the project has had on herself and the girls of Cummings.
“Cinderella Project is not only about providing prom dresses, but furthering it into women’s empowerment and making sure it’s about mentoring and networking, making sure the girls are making positive relationships,” Dwyer said.