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published april 16, 2007
A Cinderella story
150 deserving grads have dreams come true at annual Boutique
Day
jeff hodson/METRO VANCOUVEr
Amanda Cupples, 18, a senior at Carson Graham
secondary in North Vancouver, gets fitted for a prom gown. The
Cinderella Project’s Boutique Day was held yesterday at the
Vancouver Renaissance Harbourside Hotel.
High school graduation is one of the biggest milestones in a
young person’s life. But for some students, it is a marker that sits
just beyond reach.
"I wasn’t originally planning to go to grad," said Marisa
Nielsen, an 18-year-old senior at Fleetwood Park secondary in
Surrey. "We just didn’t have the money to spend on what you need for
grad."
Nielsen is one of 150 deserving students who took part yesterday
in the Lower Mainland’s eighth annual Cinderella Project Boutique
Day.
The event helps underprivileged students, who wouldn’t normally
be able to afford grad festivities, by providing them with formal
evening wear, shoes and accessories.
The Cinderella Project pairs students with "Fairy Godparents,"
volunteers who pamper them for the day, helping them select gowns or
tuxedos and giving them advice on hair and makeup.
"My friends were giving me a hard time about how I should pick
the perfect dress," said Nielsen. "But really, just the opportunity
is fantastic."
The project, said volunteer Pat Ponti, gives needy students the
push they need to stay in school and celebrate their graduation with
the rest of their classmates.
"What we’re attempting to do is keep wind in their sails," said
Ponti, a special needs teacher at Burnaby South secondary
school.
"It’s a real incentive to stay in school and get involved with a
lot of the festivities around grad, because they know they’re going
to attend with their classmates."
Nielsen, who plans on doing a couple of years at a community
college before pursuing arts at New York University, said she was
most excited yesterday about getting her hair done.
"I have one hairdo and that’s it. I’d love to see other ways of
how it can be done."
jeff hodson/metro vancouver
jeff.hodson@metronews.ca
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project assists students in need
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- Almost half of the students involved in the Cinderella
Project are chronically ill, or physically or
developmentally disabled.
- Of those physically able to work, more than two thirds
balance multiple jobs to help support their families.
- Some of the others are single parents, others are
helping to care for an ailing parent or are raising younger
siblings.
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