Helping out Cinderella
Even Cinderella needed a little behind-the-scenes help to dress up and have the
opportunity to meet Prince Charming at the ball.
For high school girls in the Chicago area, there may not be any fairy godmothers
to wave magic wands, but, fortunately, there is the Glass Slipper Project,
which is undoubtedly the next best thing.
Started in 1999, the not-for-profit organization staffed entirely by volunteers
has organized the collection and distribution of several thousand prom gowns
and accessories to high school girls in need.
In fact, the group has helped more than 15,000 girls attend their high school
prom in style.
While the Glass Slipper Project offers the same type of guidance and support of
a fairy godmother, it is a 150-year-old family drycleaning chain that helps
provide some of the magic.
In addition to helping with the collection of the dresses, Zengeler Cleaners also cleans every one of them to make each garment look sparkling brand new.
This year, Zengeler collected 1,800 donations, plus shoes, jewelry, handbags and
other items to contribute to the Glass Slipper Project. The grand total value
of the donated dresses exceeded over $750,000.
“Through the generous donations of people in the community, we have had our most
successful collection drive ever this spring,” said Tom Zengeler, president of Zengeler Cleaners.
Since 2003, the cleaning chain has taken in almost 8,000 dresses for the drive
altogether, and, in the process, has become the leading collection point for
it.
In the last few months, dresses from students at Stevenson, Deerfield,
Libertyville, Lake Forest, New Trier and Carmel high schools have been dropped
off at each of Zengeler’s seven locations in Illinois.
Some of those dresses were brand new with the price tags still attached. In
fact, many of the gently used and new gowns had originally retailed for
hundreds of dollars.
While all the dresses were cleaned and pressed, some required a few minor
repairs. Zengeler contributed all of its services at no charge, including the
storing and distribution of the garments.
On Thursday, April 10, all of the dresses were packed up in a truck and
transported from Zengeler’s headquarters in Northbrook to the special “Boutiques” in Chicago where qualified high school women can gather and pick the prom gown
of their choice on one of three designated dates.
The Glass Slipper Project hosted Boutique shopping days on April 12 and 26, and
plan to hold the final installment on May 3 at Farren Elementary School in
Chicago.
Many volunteer “personal shoppers” will be on hand to provide girls with individual attention in the quest to find
the perfect fashion ensemble.
For more information on the Glass Slipper Project, visit the organization’s web site at www.glassslipperproject.org. Zengeler Cleaners web site is
www.zengelercleaners.com.
The company is one of America’s oldest and largest drycleaning companies. It is owned and run by the fifth
generation of the same family that started the business back in 1857.
