There was little difference between Cinderella and Laili
Qiyam yesterday morning.
Qiyam stood in front of a full-length mirror and carefully
preened her new strapless black satin dress studded with
rhinestones, just picked from an overflowing rack of evening
gowns.
The McMath secondary senior joined close to 150 guys and
girls from Lower Mainland high schools for the eighth
Cinderella Project Boutique Day.
The event, hosted at posh Renaissance Hotel, gives teens in
tough circumstances an opportunity to celebrate the milestone
of graduation in the same fashion as their peers.
The future grads are offered full outfits, professional
photographs and one-on-one time with a stylist.
"Graduating is really expensive," Qiyam said. "You have to
pay for a lot of stuff, like your dinner money and your
pictures and your graduation dress. When you put it all
together it's like thousands of dollars."
The Cinderella Project takes nominations for students
facing financial challenges and more. Some teens involved have
put their dreams on hold to take care of younger siblings
because their parents may be deceased, disabled or terminally
ill.
Through the day, teens were paired with "fairy godparents"
to talk about post-prom goals such as a college education,
finding full-time work or an improved living situation.
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