The fairytale ending for the many ‘Cinderellas’ of New Orleans
2nd November 2015 · 0 Comments
By Darcie Ortique
Contributing Writer
Halloween, homecoming, and winter formals are staples of the holiday season and the desire to dress up is one that many low-income young girls cannot afford. The average brand new prom dress today ranges from $100 on the low end, to $400 on the high end. Some Quinceanera gowns average $2,500. Most times, young girls only wear them once. In November, the New Orleans chapter of The Cinderella Project will push its annual prom dress drive to get residents to donate gently used prom dresses for junior and senior high school girls in the city. The project launched its drive at the showing of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s New Orleans performance of “Cinderella” at the Saenger Theatre, which ran from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1.
The project’s organizers say their mission is to make sure that every girl gets the opportunity to have a fairytale ending of their own, like Cinderella did in her glass slippers and princess gown. “[The Cinderella Project] started in 2008, in Baton Rouge, out of a garage.
“I decided to start an organization in New Orleans, where I noticed a need,” said Vanessa Fayard, the director of The Cinderella Project in New Orleans.
While the organization accepts donations all year round, the end of the year is an ideal time to make a charitable donation, organizers say, particularly when people are feeling generous during the holidays. It also allows the organization to stockpile prom dresses in time for homecoming events and the Spring prom season.
“I hold prom dear to my heart,” Fayard said. “I couldn’t imagine not having that experience. We actually get girls who have never tried on a dress. I ask them their dress size, and they don’t know. We make it feel like a shopping experience and they can feel comfortable trying on a dress,” said Fayard of the true Cinderella experience the project aims to provide young girls in the city.
The public can donate dresses at Romaguera Photography in Metairie and at Salon Sanity in Gretna. Roch Eshleman, the business manager for Romaguera Photography, said she got involved with the project because of her desire to use her expertise in a meaningful way in the community.
“Being in the photography field, we get to capture memories,” Eshleman said. “To know we have been able to contribute to an experience of a lifetime is a great feeling to be able to do that,” she said.
The project has become a labor of love for Fayard and Eshleman, one that has expanded their work within the city. “Community involvement is important to me. I wanted to address the need in my own community,” Fayard said. “To be able to give back in any way, truly is a good feeling. We have more family members that are not blood relatives,” Eshleman added of the bonds they form with the girls who receive dresses from the project.
The cast of “Cinderella” have collaborated with Cinderella Projects across the nation and said they see the fairy tale they perform have real-life meaning to young girls who receive donated prom dresses. For New Orleans in particular, it holds special meaning to bring a measure of happiness to families in the city, cast members said.
“Partnering with the Cinderella Project really is a testament to the heart of the city,” said Audrey Cardwell, a Birmingham, Ala. native who played the role of Cinderella in the musical performance at the Saenger. “All women struggle with self-confidence. The Cinderella Project helps girls feel they can fit in, no matter the circumstances of their lives. I come from a middle-class family and it would’ve been helpful to have a dress donated for one night,” said Cardwell of her own memories of the process of being able to go to prom.
Andy Huntington Jones, who played Prince Topher for the New Orleans performance, is a native of Boston, Mass. and said it was his first visit to New Orleans.
“I think there are a lot of families who cannot afford a dress. To have an organization like The Cinderella Project, to make the prom possible for everyone is a dream. They are real-life, fairy godmothers,” Jones said.
The cast hopes that during this season, the public will examine donating a possession that may have a greater impact for young girls than merely being stored away as a relic. “A lot of people, when they go to a prom, they get their prom dress, and then it sits in their closet for forever. Literally, forever,” Jones said. “With organizations like The Cinderella Project, that dress in the closet that doesn’t mean something to that one-time user anymore can now make someone else’s prom dream come true.”
This article originally published in the November 2, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
