tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759156.post-888783292003-02-10T17:44:00.000-06:002003-02-10T17:58:01.000-06:00My Newest Brain Child I have an idea. (well, I actually have lots of ideas, but I have this one that is on my mind a lot lately...so bear with me) This specific idea is to start a local charity. I am always looking for ways to help other people and ways to serve my community, and this idea I have for a charity is one that I believe could not only help people but it could also, in a small way, make a difference in a few people's lives. My idea for a charity is to create an organization that collects the gently used prom and bridesmaid dresses that are hanging in every woman's closet and makes them available to underprivileged girls whose families cannot afford to buy them a new dress to wear to their high school prom. My idea is not an original one by any means, there are organizations like this all over the country (for example the one in Chicago is <a href="http://www.glassslipperproject.org/">The Glass Slipper Project</a>, on the east coast a lot of them are called Fairy Godmothers, in Florida there's Sequin Dreams and on the west coast there's Cinderella's Closet...to name a few), but as far as I can tell, there isn't an organization like this in Iowa. (If anyone knows of one...please tell me!) Obviously this is still an idea in my head and I haven't ironed out all of the details. The essential idea is that women will donate their used dresses/formalwear and a girl would be given a prom dress, shoes, accessories and makeup (sample sizes) for free from the donated items. I haven't decided on the distribution specifics, there are two ways the items can be distributed. The first option is to help girls on a case by case basis (school guidance counselors and social workers would call and request the service for a specific student). The other popular distribution process is to set up a boutique and the girls can come "shop" for their dress on specific days. Which ever way we do it, I will certainly limit the participants to underprivileged high school junior and senior girl.(Maybe eventually we can work in a program for guys...that'll come down the road.) The inital setup of this project is going to take a lot of time and work, but I am more than willing to invest myself in it. However, since it's February, I think this year's program will be limited in size, with the hopes that by next prom season I can have this thing off the ground and flying. I am currently researching how to organize the charity such that it's a "recognized charity" for tax purposes (I know nothing about doing this, I think it has something to do with becoming a 501(c) organization, but I need to do more research...if anyone knows about this and can save me the research time please speak up!). I blog about this today because I need your help! A big key in the set up of this organization will be naming it, and thus I'm seeking the input of my fellow bloggers. Any ideas? Obviously the names I've mentioned above are taken, but they are all very catchy and appropriate, so basically I'm looking for something along the same lines as those other names without directly stealing a name from another organization. Please use my comment button to leave your name ideas or thoughts on the project. (Don't hesitate to tell me if this is a crazy idea, sometimes I need to hear that before I go head first into something!) Thanks for your help!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3759156-88878329?l=katieutech.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Kathleenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17976839223150730114noreply@blogger.com