One of our supporters Ky Wolterbeek recently brought down 166 dresses for some of our students. Ky works with Dress a Girl Around the World which provides beautiful dresses sewn by volunteers to disadvantaged girls around the world. Ky shared her story with us below.

I have been involved with Safe Passage for 15 years. We have had a number of sponsor children. I am the chair of St. Thomas Episcopal Church’s global outreach committee with Safe Passage as our mission for the past 15 years and I will be leading another (my 6th) Support Team to work in Guatemala in June. Below I am copying the Dress A Girl info from their website. They have very similar goals as Safe Passage – to foster dignity, empowerment and opportunity for families to rise out of poverty.

“Dress a Girl Around the World is a Campaign under Hope 4 Women International (a 501 (c) 3 organization) bringing dignity to women around the world since 2006. Hope 4 Women International is a nondenominational independent Christian organization. We dream of a world in which every girl has at least one new dress. We want girls to know that they are worthy of respect, and that they are loved by God. Dedicated volunteers throughout the United States and around the world gather to sew and distribute dresses to girls in need around the world because we believe that every girl deserves at least one dress. . .”

I have been sewing with the Southern Maine Chapter of Dress A Girl for about 1 1/2 years. This year I was lucky enough to coordinate a trip and combine both of the two organizations I strongly support.

Delivering the dresses was pretty amazing — the girls were excited and seemed quite happy with their dresses (and the undies tucked in the pockets). The girls in the older classes were able to choose their dress from a selection we had spread out on the principal’s desk.

It was heartwarming to see them pick up the dresses, check out colors, and designs and then help each other try them on. I told my husband that the smile on each girl’s face looked like they each felt like a Cinderella princess.