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Valley group provides gowns to teen girls on tight budgets
NORTH LIMA
For teenage girls and their parents, the hassle of buying a fancy dress to be worn once or twice for a dance, prom or special occasion can be a financial hardship.
A local service organization in North Lima, however, tries to resolve that stress by providing a donation service.
DIVA (Divinely Inspired Virtuously Acquired) Donations, 11836 South Ave., gives girls the opportunity to get a dress, jewelry and matching shoes for a $25 deposit.
Fifteen dollars of the deposit is returned if the dress is returned. Another option requests the dress return and some volunteer work for the full $25 refund.
“Our whole goal is relieving financial stress on families,” said DIVA Donations founder Kristin Bodendorfer. “We want to make sure everyone knows there is help for those struggling families in our community.”
DIVA Donations originated from a Facebook post in 2012, offering Bodendorfer’s daughter’s old prom dresses to anyone interested in them.
Instead of giving away the dresses to free some closet space, Bodendorfer inherited dresses – 200 of them – as well as accessories and shoes to go with them.
“I remember we hung ladders across the garage hanging dresses off them for girls to come pick out,” she said.
As the business grew, Bodendorfer had to move to her current location, taking up three rooms for the stock that kept pouring in.
DIVA Donations has inherited not only prom dresses, but also homecoming dresses, beauty-pageant dresses and even wedding dresses.
Once wedding dresses started coming in, Bodendorfer saw it as an opportunity for revenue in this entirely volunteer-run organization.
Because many women want to keep their wedding dresses, Diva Donations sells them for $50, which goes directly back to the organization for more space, cleaning services and special-occasion materials for teenage girls.
“That way it’s helping them, and it’s helping us,” she said.
Aubrey, Kristin Bodendorfer’s daughter, said she strives to help her mother and the business and hopes to eventually take it over.
“Because this is a 501c3 [nonprofit], she [Kristin Bodendorfer] spends lots and lots of time here and lots of her own personal money,” Aubrey said. “It’s hard because she does get to see the girls happy about dresses, but she doesn’t get personal pay for it. I want to change it so she maybe could get something for that [her work].”
Aubrey said working with her mother provides instruction about charities and helping others.
“It’s rewarding to see other people happy,” she said.
Just this year, DIVA Donations has been able to make 663 girls happy in finding the perfect prom dress.
It’s her wish to run DIVA Donations as a “service closet” and encourages people to volunteer because they get their whole deposits back.
“We want to encourage people to do something in their community to make it better,” Bodendorfor said.
Another service DIVA Donations provides is the Fairy Godmother Program.
The program invites people in the community who want to help teengirls in their prom-shopping adventures.
“The whole thing is to make them feel beautiful,” Bodendorfer said.
She said when girls come in, she always asks the same question: Do they want to be a princess or movie star?
“This is a labor of love, and that is reflected every time a girl comes in for a dress,” Bodendorfer said.
In addition to volunteer work, she said DIVA Donations has a need for plus-size dresses.
Appointments for donations and other information can be made by emailing DIVADonations@gmail.com.