Evangelist N12b #1

32 June 16, 2011TH E E VA NG E L I S T

YOUNG FAITH

BY ANGELA CAVES T A F F W R I T E R

A peek inside Mary Doane’sproject-planning binder provesthat she put a lot of thought intocreating a prom apparel bou-tique for teens in need.

But ask the 16-year-old whoseidea the “Fairy Godmother’sCloset” was, and she’ll point toanyone but herself.

Mary was recently one of adozen volunteers recognizedfor her efforts by AlbanyCounty Executive MichaelBreslin. She was also amongalmost 460 women of theAlbany Diocese honored forvolunteerism by BishopHoward J. Hubbard.

According to Mary’s mother,Sandee, the teen said she “feltfunny” about receiving thecounty award “because so manypeople have helped me.”

Help, everybodyMary, a junior at Ravena-

Coeymans-Selkirk High Schoolin Ravena, turned to herschool, her youth group at St.Patrick’s Church in Ravenaand a local Christian commu-nity for help promoting the

prom-attire project.Volunteers pitched in to col-

lect goods, clean and hem dress-es, secure commercial space,paint walls and build a dressingroom divider. Mary’s grand-mother donated fabric for dress-ing room curtains; her teachersewed them.

But Mary provided the brain-power behind the operation.

“Mary did it all,” affirmedEileen Hoffman, the social work-er who helped circulate flyersand nominated Mary for thecounty award.

Mary had approached Ms.Hoffman a year ago with theidea to collect used prom attireand offer shopping days for stu-dents to pick their favorites free

of charge. The teen had beeninspired by a student she met inJohnstown at the diocesanChristian Leadership Institute,and also by the similar “Cin-derella Project” sponsored bySiena College in Loudonville.

Try it hereStudents who couldn’t afford

a prom dress or suit, Marymused, probably couldn’tafford the hike to Loudonvilleto shop.

In previous years, Mary’sschool had hosted dress swapsfor cash-strapped families, butMary noticed that some stu-dents felt embarrassed toreceive help in that setting.

“She’s very attuned to thosethings,” Ms. Hoffman noted.“She’s just very aware of some-one who isn’t as privileged asshe is.”

The Fairy Godmother’sCloset — a name Mary says hermom thought of — was born,and Mary spent a year solicitingdonations of gowns, semi-for-mal dresses, suits and tuxedos,jewelry and accessories.

A dry cleaner offered to cleansome dresses; Mary’s teacherrecruited an after-school club tospot-clean others. Members ofMary’s youth group cleanedanother batch.

Creating a closetAs if all that teamwork

weren’t enough, Mary noted, thepastor at Abounding LoveChristian Fellowship in Ravenaoffered use of the church’s thriftshop for the sale days.

But Mary soon realized thatthe dresses — by then, num-bering more than 100 — need-ed a more special home. Whenthe church offered clothingracks and an office-turned-stor-age unit, Mary and her crewtransformed the room into acheery shop with mirrors, spa-cious dressing rooms andwooden dressers for shoes andjewelry. Donated shopping

bags waited to be filled. Eight girls found their ideal

prom outfits in the FairyGodmother’s Closet.

“They were really beingblessed by the Lord to pick outa $250 or $300 gown for free,”said Charles Engelhardt, pastorof the church, adding that theatmosphere made the studentsfeel special.

Mary plowed through a thickstack of paperwork on forming anon-profit organization, but saidshe “had this feeling that Godwas telling me that’s not what Ishould do.”

To be continuedInstead, when Mary leaves for

college, the project will operateas part of the Family, Career andCommunity Leaders of Amer-ica club at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High.

“I know that when I graduate,it will be in good hands,” Marytold The Evangelist.

The influx of used dresseshas continued past prom sea-son. Mary plans to add moreshopping days next year andraise enough money to buymatching hangers. She’s alsolooking for full-length mirrors;

the ones she used this seasonwere on loan.

I feel prettyThe teen believes that see-

ing oneself reflected in manymirrors, dressed up, is animportant part of pre-promshopping: “When I went to getmy gown, that was the bestpart — that everywhere youturned, you still looked beauti-ful.”

There was one sad note in thetale of the Fairy Godmother’sCloset: Expensive costume jew-elry was stolen, as well as com-puters from the accountant’soffice downstairs. But Maryshrugged off the crime amid thegood accomplished by the proj-ect.

However, she doesn’t feel herawards for the effort are impor-tant: “The idea of doing some-thing to benefit other people isthe point.”

None of her volunteerism —as a choir member, cantor, altarserver, catechist and parishcouncil member at St. Patrick’s,or as a swimming teacher at herschool’s pool clubs — is “for me,”she added. “It’s just the rightthing to do.”

STUDENT PROJECT

This ‘fairy godmother’ outfits prom princesses

Mary was the youngest volunteerof a group honored recently byAlbany County Executive MichaelBreslin. As she looks toward col-lege — mulling over Catholicschools — some say Mary should bea teacher, but all she knows is shewants to do mission work at somepoint: “I kind of want to see theworld, see what else is out there.”

MARY SHOWS OFF DRESSES at the Fairy Godmother’s Closet (Angela Cavephoto)...

...and poses in her own prom gown, which she notes that she found on sale.

‘I feel that I can just say, “Give me the grace and the wisdom and the guidance

to do this.” I’ve just always had [faith].’Mary Doane