The Giving Gown Foundation

Princess Diaries

2009-06-16T07:29:00.001-05:00

I would like to share a letter with you that we received last week. Please know that it is through your time, support and dedication that we are touching lives. I have typed the letter exactly as it was written to us, however I have not included the name of our princess, her mom or school due to confidentiality. I am not able to attach the picture at this time - but still wanted to share these kind words.

~JoAnn

Giving Gowns,

Thank you can't say enough! Enclosed is a picture of the prom dress my daughter _______ wore for her senior prom this year. When I first mentioned going to look at gowns with _______ she really wasn't interested. However, with me being in control of this situation; her mind was quickly changed :)

When we got there ______ was so excited about all of the gowns that she had to choose from. The gown in the picture was the first gown she tried on ... it fit her like a glove, and it was absolutely fabulous! She did try on two more just to make sure this was "the one".

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making my _______'s senior prom one she will never forget. She was told she had the prettiest dress at the prom! I had to take the time out to say; the organization is wonderful and I pray that it reaches millions of young ladies right at their current need. May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless and prosper everyone involved!!

______________ --- _________High School c/o '09

God Bless,

East Bernard High School Cheerleaders

2009-06-09T07:28:00.009-05:00

WOW! These girls are amazing ~ and I'm not just talking about their Cheering!

The East Bernard HS Cheerleaders (along with their wonderful coaches) brought new meaning to "official fairygodmother". From what I understand East Bernard is a small town of just over 2000 residents (Kingwood HS has almost that many students), but don't let their size fool you.

Over 50 gowns were collected at a dress drive and $350 raised through a bake sale and donations! To top it off Cathy Kovar & Cindy Vincek (cheer coaches) arranged for the girls to bring the dresses to us ... traveling over 80 miles each way! We had the pleasure of meeting the girls at "Chili's Night" and hope to have the pleasure of visiting them in East Bernard soon.

Chili's Night Reminder!

2009-06-05T08:55:00.002-05:00

Monday - June 8th
4pm - 11pm
Chili's ~ Tomball
14006 FM 2920
Tomball, TX 77377
281-290-7459

10% of EVERY order will be gifted to The Giving Gown Foundation!!!
Guests must present a "Chili's Night" Certificate when placing their order ... copies can be downloaded from Home page of our web site www.givinggown.org

Please spread the word -- and help us to continue:
making dreams come true ... one dress at a time

Thank You!

2009-06-02T07:41:00.008-05:00

To our numerous volunteers & supporters ~ without your help we would not exist! I would like to highlight the following individuals & businesses:

Lisa Shaw ~ I thought I was organized until I met Lisa. Her creativity is amazing and I don't know when she finds the time to do all she does. Lisa speaks her mind and is open and honest about ideas and situations. Lisa knows what needs to be done and jumps in without being asked.

Beth Younger ~ she had devoted endless hours to supporting Giving Gown. Most recently she organized Chili's Night benefiting GG and continues to give of herself. Check out her one of a kind bags @ http://www.julie-beth.com/ a company founded by Beth (and her dear friend). Two of these great bags were auctioned off at our 1st annual Prom Preview Fashion Show (which Beth helped organize) a special GG discount was offered in conjunction with our "telethon" hosted by Fox 26 News.

Christine Russo ~ you can always count on Christine to volunteer. She is there, whether it's freezing at the crack of dawn to prepare our parade float of sweating bullets as we organize our storage. She is always available for Anything we need. I'd like to say a special Thank You to Christine for helping us with our 501(c)3 paperwork!

Dahlia ~ of Dahlia's Boutique in Tomball. She has supported us since the beginning and is a constant source of encouragement. If you've never been to her shop, it's worth the trip: 120 West Main, Tomball 281-357-8448

Lakewood Cleaners ~ not only are they a drop off point for donations, but they have cleaned countless dresses for us, allowed us to borrow racks & even donated dress bags to us: 21127 Tomball Parkway, Tomball 281-257-1744

Danielle LaPell ~ a true Fairygodmother. Danielle was one of our first volunteers, she worked every minute of Boutique Day sewing, repairing & creating non-stop. Even surgery did not keep Danielle down - although she was not able to ride on our Parade Float she made a Fairygodmother costume for us that will be used again & again. When we say "making dreams come true ... one dress at a time" Danielle take this to heart. She has made dresses especially for princesses who were unable to find a gown in their size at Boutique Day.

My Attic Storage ~ proving climate controlled storage. One unit FREE of charge & one at a reduced rate. They have even accepted delivery of our garment racks & helped transport the many boxes to our storage unit.

KSBJ Radio ~ especially Liz Jordan who heard about GG our first year when we had the opportunity to be interviewed for the morning show. It is through Liz's dedication and support that we have been given the opportunity to share our mission with many people. Liz has a heart for the Lord and shares His love with everyone she meets.

Adina Walker ~ one of the most dedicated people I know! Adina's "can do" attitude has been invaluable to our organization, which she helped create from the ground up. Her continuous drive and enthusiasm is a constant source of encouragement to me and others. She is a take-charge person who does not take "no" for an answer. Her unwavering devotion to her family, community, career and Giving Gown exemplifies her caring heart. I have been and am truly blessed by Adina.

Please know that there are many many others that support Giving Gown in all that we do. We appreaciate each and every person & business! Every gown, pair of shoes, purse, necklace, and dollar are needed and utilized to support others. Please continue to pray for us and for those we reach out to.

Thank you ALL for
making dreams come true ... one dress at a time

Chili's Night!

2009-05-29T08:12:00.003-05:00

Great news!

Chili’s in Tomball is hosting us for their 10% give back night on Monday, June 8th all day long. This means that Giving Gown will get 10% of all sales that day when the server is presented with a flyer.

What we need to do to get this money for GGF:
1. Email everyone with this flyer and information telling them about June 8th.
2. Get all of our friends and family to come down to Chili’s for June 8th with this flyer.
3. Put the flyer on the GGF website and publicize it.
4. Print out flyers and give to our co-workers/family/friends.

You can download a flyer from the home page of our website: www.givinggown.org or contact us at info@givinggown.org if you would like us to e-mail a flyer to you.

Thanks for your continued support ~ hope to see you there!

Kashmere High School

2009-05-27T09:47:00.004-05:00

From the first phone call I knew meeting Mrs. Wanda Pegues (aka Master Sergeant) would be special. Our first conversation took place just two weeks before Boutique Day. Many of our registration time slots were already full and the remaining were filling up quickly. Here's part of an e-mail that came after we spoke:

"The girls from this school are inner city students and much is not afforded to them. I retired from the Army and came from Georgia three years ago and was hired as a JROTC Instructor. It was military ball time at the school and so many girls were asking for help with military ball gowns. My heart truly broke. I started checking around and connected with a community service representative who was able to assist with a few girls and then I came out of pocket to assist others and we made it through. The girls were so appreciative and that blessed me even more. Last year we were set up with a foundation by a school representative who has since left the school. "

Wanda was talking with a friend from Church about "her girls" and their needs, trying to come up with a way to help them. It just so happens that her friend had hear about Giving Gown and suggested she contact us.

In no time at all we had over 50 girls registered to attend Boutique Day - but that's not the best part. The principal at Kashmere High School gave permission for the trip to Boutique Day to be sponsored by the school. School buses were reserved, chaperones signed up, breakfast bags were put together for each girl to eat on the way and best of all the Principal treated all of the girls to lunch after Boutique Day! Kudos to Mrs. Wanda & Kashmere!!

Post Prom & more

2009-05-26T09:04:00.003-05:00

As the school year draws to an end Prom season is almost over ~ but not for everyone.
We collect donations year 'round in order to have enough dresses for Boutique Day each year.
Please consider hosting a "Post Prom" dress drive at your school, church, office or maybe even with
your Bunco group.
Summer time is usually full of Weddings. Many bridesmaids dresses work great for Prom ... and don't
forget about the accessories: shoes, jewelry, handbags & wraps.
Clean out your closet and make room for all those cute sun dresses, sandals and beach wear!

stella & Dot

2009-05-22T13:29:00.005-05:00

A while back we received an e-mail from a dear lady who heard about GG on KSBJ. She let us know that she was hosting a stetta & dot jewelry party & that she wanted to donate all of the "free" jewelry that she would earn at the party. She also asked her guests to bring a gown to donate.

She met with one of our fairy godmothers today at our storage facility to bring us the donated items ~12 lovely dresses & over $700 worth of jewelry!

If you are interested in hosting your own party here's who to contact:

Lisa Fabian

713-320-1252

fabiandesigns@yahoo.com

www.stelladot.com/lisa

Moving forward

2009-05-21T12:30:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our blog!
The Giving Gown Foundation has created a blog (it's about time ~ right)
to keep everyone updated on events & more.
Here are a few details to start:

* We have been approved & received our 501(c)3 status!

* A work day is scheduled at storage on Saturday, May 30th 9:00am - ?
Come & go as you can. Please e-mail us if you plan to attend or if you would like additional information info@givinggown.org

* We've been updating our Website. Check out our new look: www.givinggown.org

* Countdown to Boutique Day 2010
Scheduled for Friday & Saturday - March 26th & 27th. Giving Gown has partnered with Bammel Church of Christ who will be hosting Boutique Day in their wonderful Teen Center.