Less than two weeks remain before the Cheyenne River Youth Project®’s eagerly anticipated 2013 Passion for Fashion event. That means donors and supporters around the country have until Saturday, March 2 to send their new and gently used dresses, formal shoes, jewelry and accessories to CRYP’s East Lincoln Street campus.
“If possible, we’re trying to get all donations in house a week prior to Passion for Fashion,” explained Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “We’ll certainly accept any last-minute donations during the week of the event, but our staff and volunteers really do need those days to sort all the donations by type and size, and to prepare them for roughly 100 teenage girls who will be ready to go shopping!”
This year’s Passion for Fashion will take place on Saturday, March 9 at the Cokata Wiconi Teen Center. Featuring the exciting theme “The ‘80s ~ Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” the daylong event will kick off with a formal luncheon in CRYP’s Keya Cafe.
“We’re going to focus on fun food,” said Megan Guiliano, CRYP’s youth programs director. “Things like burgers and fries, corn dogs, nachos, buffalo wings, pasta salad and fondue. We want the girls to have lots of delicious and interesting choices.”
After lunch, the girls will enjoy a special presentation by keynote speaker Lise Balk King, cofounder of independent newspaper The Native Voice and a media and communications expert who has worked for more than 20 years as a producer, publisher, advocate, consultant, event organizer, writer, editor, filmmaker and photographer. Then they will move on to the Cokata Wiconi gymnasium for manicures, pedicures, facials, makeup and hairstyling; shopping for dresses, shoes and accessories; and an authentic high-fashion catwalk experience and photo booth, complete with professional photographers.
The 1980s theme will be carried throughout Cokata Wiconi, from neon graffiti, cassette tapes, boom boxes and posters of ‘80s celebrities to ‘80s movies, classic MTV videos and a giant Rubiks Cube cake.
“We’re encouraging our staff and volunteers to dress up that day, perhaps even choosing their favorite ‘80s icons and staying in character throughout the event,” Guiliano said. “We’re also considering ‘80s up-dos as well as contemporary up-dos in our hair salon. And we might put some fun props in the photo booth.”
Dawnee LeBeau will handle all photo-booth photography, while Robert Slocum will be responsible for catwalk images and action shots. Each Passion for Fashion guest will receive a free photograph.
“We introduced the fashion-photography element last year, and it was wildly successful,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “The girls had so much fun, and it went way beyond portraits. They got in front of the camera with their friends, their siblings, even their older family members.”
The fact that multiple generations attend Passion for Fashion is one of the program’s most important aspects, Garreau noted. It makes the event an intergenerational and cultural bonding experience.
“Each year, we see girls bring mothers, grandmas, aunties, cousins and big and little sisters to Passion for Fashion, and it’s incredible to see how these girls and women support each other,” Garreau said. “That kind of support is so critical as we try to address challenges such as low self-esteem, distorted and unhealthy body images and bullying.
“Passion for Fashion surprises people,” she continued, reflecting on the reactions of volunteers and community members since the program was founded in 2001. “They expect that we’ll have fun with prom dresses, shoes, makeovers and strutting on the catwalk, but they don’t realize that we’re also teaching our girls some very valuable lessons. We’re reinforcing the idea that every girl is beautiful, every girl is special, and everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. And by the end of the night, we see new friendships, emerging confidence and real beauty, inside and out.”
The evening will conclude with the presentation of special gift bags for participants to take home, in addition to their dresses, shoes, jewelry and other accessories. There also will be drawings for prizes.
Once again, Garreau noted, CRYP is anticipating approximately 100 teenage girls for this year’s Passion for Fashion event, plus members of their immediate and extended families. All high-school girls on the Cheyenne River reservation, the Standing Rock reservation and border communities such as Faith, South Dakota, are welcome to attend.
To make sure that each teen is able to take home her dream dress, the perfect shoes, all the necessary prom accessories and a few gifts, CRYP still needs more new and gently used dresses, shoes and assorted formal-night odds and ends.
“We need dresses in sizes four to 26, but we especially need sizes 16 to 26,” Garreau said. “The same goes for shoes— we need pairs in all sizes, but especially in sizes 9 to 12.”
CRYP also is asking for jewelry and hair accessories; makeup and bath sets; gift cards and cash donations. Staff and volunteers will take any contributed funds and make additional purchases based on need.
“We’re also in need of volunteers, from our community and from our CRYP family around the country,” Garreau observed. “If you’d like to help, please give us a call at (605) 964-8200. We’re so deeply grateful for any help, and we can guarantee you’ll have a day — and evening — to remember.”
To learn how you can support CRYP’s 2012 Passion for Fashion program, see the sidebar to the left.
To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project® and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call (605) 964-8200 or visit www.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, visit the youth project’s Facebook “Cause” page. All Cause members will receive regular updates through Facebook.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.