Jefferson Awards

• Apr 10, 2008 7:57 pm US/Pacific
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  Princess Project Sends Girls to the Prom in Style

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Princess Project Sends Girls to the Prom in Style

Jefferson Award Winners: Laney Whitcanack & Kristi Smith Knutson

Reporting
Kate Kelly

Six years ago, Kristi Smith Knutson and Laney Whitcanack learned just how prohibitive the costs of going to a high school prom could be. The two were working at a Bay Area non-profit that ran a youth leadership program.

"One of the girls in one of the leadership programs happened to comment that she couldn't afford a prom dress," Kristi explains. "And we thought we could help her out."

An email to a few friends asking for dresses ballooned.

"We thought, 'Oh, we'll get a dress for this girl, you know. Someone will have a dress,'" adds Laney. "Then we got more and more responses!"

Laney and Kristi ended up helping 325 girls that year, and the "Princess Project" was born.

So far, The Princess Project has served over seven thousand high school girls, outfitting them with beautiful dresses, some new, some gently used, all free.

Kristi says, "It's prom, but it's so much more than prom. It's really about being part of a community and having choice and feeling that you are valued, and feeling that you have opportunities that maybe you didn't have before and I think that's a lot of what motivates us and motivates the other volunteers."

Kristi and Laney rely on an all-volunteer network - people who donate their time, talent, and taffeta, like volunteer Gina Sponzilli.

"I think it's a great example for (the girls) to see they can pretty much set their minds to anything and they have the power to do it," says Gina. "We're a perfect example of that."

Donated office space is decorated and staged for annual shopping events -- everything from purses to jewelry and dresses in all sizes -- make the girls' shopping experience a success.

"I thought it was wonderful," says shopper Lillian. "I had a lot of fun. I picked out this fabulous dress."

"The look on the girls' faces is so tremendous," says Kristi. "Sending her home with a huge smile on her face... and you see that once and that is enough. It's really a wonderful feeling."

So for making thousands of girls "Princesses" for an evening, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Kristi Smith Knutson & Laney Whitcanack.

For more information about the Princess Project around the Bay Area, click Princess Project

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