It’s typically whispered in my ear so no one can hear…”I hate this dress & will never ever wear it again” “Look at how ugly it is?!” Hearing heard this a million times, made me think…
I told my close friend and Business Colleague, Diane Mammana, Owner of Salon Posh in conversation, wouldn’t it be great to do a Dress Drive & collect these dresses no one will ever wear again?? She laughed and told me about Operation Prom, a non profit organization that collects dresses and gives to young women on a National level the opportunity to attend their prom in a Beautiful dress that has been donated. Diane, has been involved for 3 years and mentored me in getting involved and connected with Noel D’Allaco, Founder of Operation Prom. It is in my personality…whatever I do or set my mind to…I embrace like there is no tomorrow!! Needless to say between myself and my team of JKFlashy Luxury Makeup Artists we spread the word! People were donating beautiful dresses they had in their closets and were so happy to give! Operation Prom was such an easy organization to embrace and collect dresses for because people love helping people, people just kept giving and giving!
I had to buy a Garment Rack, which was filled quickly and then dresses were piled on top of the cart. I could not imagine bringing all of the dresses to the Dry Cleaners in the Rye Ridge Shopping center – there were too many! I packed my car – it took me days to get all the dresses in my SUV! I could not see out of my rear view mirror, all I saw was dresses! The Owner of the Dry Cleaners said he had never had so many delivered at one time!
The best part of this entire experience was going to the various schools and facilities and helping the young ladies pick out that “special dress.” Prom is a rite of passage for every young woman, to be a part of the “dress shopping” experience was an experience that will stay with me forever.
This past week JKFlashy was honored by Operation Prom and Robert Astorino for it’s dedication & outstanding community service. Being honored was absolutely amazing and JKFlashy is privileged to have been included in such a special evening. Most important was the journey and authentic experience of giving and involving the community in our quest for each young girl to attend Prom and feel special. Thank you Westchester!