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You can call her 'Fairy Godmother'

A Dunedin woman's project, Belle of the Ball, provides homecoming and prom gowns for girls who cannot afford them.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published September 27, 2005

CLEARWATER - For two upcoming weekends, a law office will be magically transformed into dressing rooms with curtains, mirrors, ball gowns and doting fairy godmothers.

All that's needed are teenage girls who wish to attend the ball - or their homecoming dance - and don't have the means.

Saturday and Oct. 8, girls in need of fashionable dresses for homecoming or prom can shop for them at the Clearwater office.

Susan Schwartz began the project, called "Belle of the Ball," a couple of years ago. Since then, the 46-year-old Dunedin resident has delighted in collecting and distributing hundreds of free gowns.

"You can't believe how their faces and eyes light up when they find the perfect dress," she said of the teens and parents who have participated. "We make a big fuss over them and then pack the gowns in dry-cleaning bags and tie the bottom, just as if they'd bought it in a department store."

Schwartz obtains her gowns by placing notices in church bulletins and school newspapers. Currently, her cache contains an assortment of 450 dresses from extra small to plus sizes.

"Some are tea-length or cocktail-style, and some are full-length gowns," she said. "We sort through them to make sure they are all current styles and not stained or ripped. Some of them have designer labels like Jessica McClintock, and some still have the price tags."

The girls receive a coupon for one free dry-cleaning service, compliments of Sun Country Cleaners. The coupons can be used before or after the dance.

The girls are allowed to keep the gowns, or they can return them for another girl to use. Most of the girls keep them, Schwartz said.

"I only had a couple returned last year," she said. "For most of the girls, this is probably the nicest dress they've ever owned, and they want to hang onto it."

Schwartz tries to limit the participants to those who truly can't afford a new dress. Many times a guidance counselor or social worker refers the girls to her project.

"We operate on an honor system," she said.

Party City in Clearwater serves as a dropoff point, and the law offices of Perenich, Carroll, Perenich, Avril, Caulfield & Noyes offer Schwartz a temporary distribution point.

But the fairy godmother has a wish of her own.

"I'd love if someone would come forward with a permanent, year-round collection and distribution site," she said.

Schwartz, who began the project as a useful way to recycle some of her daughters' once-worn cotillion, prom and homecoming dresses, said she is always looking for more gowns to distribute.

"It's a great way to help others and not let all these beautiful dresses just go to waste," she said.

[Last modified September 27, 2005, 02:45:31]