Donations for the dance floor

Katie Wilmeth, The Examiner
Mar 13, 2006

So it was a natural fit when Kristina “Morgan” Rose and Deandra “Brooksie” Brooks, founders of the Society of Recovering Sorority Girls, launched Project Cinderella — a prom dress drive for girls in Arlington County high schools — three years ago.

“Prom dresses are so important because prom is one of the milestones within your life,” said Rose. “It’s part of our popular culture. Formal wear is something that people don’t always feel comfortable in and don’t have the opportunity to wear very often. Prom is an opportunity to step outside yourself and be a little sparkly.”

Rose, 33, and Brooksie, 32, both graduates of American University and sisters in the Phi Mu sorority, founded the Society in 2001 as a way to up the party-planning ante post-sorority life.

They wrote a book, “The Recovering Sorority Girls’ Guide to a Year’s Worth of Perfect Parties,” and started a Web site to help women live a more sophisticated sorority life.

But the organization, dubbed Rho Sigma Gamma, for Recovering Sorority Girls, focuses on all aspects of sororities, including philanthropy, a major component of Greek life.

Project Cinderella works with the four high schools in Arlington County, where about 30 percent of students come from low-income families, to provide dresses for girls who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend prom. Students are asked to make a $5 donation to Arlington’s In Support of Children Fund in exchange for a dress.

“It would be terrible if you come up to your prom, you’ve dreamed about it since you were a little girl and you might not get there for want of a dress,” said Rose.

But Project Cinderella doesn’t just focus on low-income students. The dresses are available to all would-be prom queens, said Donnalee Rooks, a social worker at Washington-Lee High School and the project’s coordinator for Arlington County.

“We have a big need in the county,” she said. “But we wanted to be available for all students because they were putting out too much money. Parents felt students were stressed out.”

How to Donate

- The Recovering Sorority Girls are accepting gently used prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses and formal wear. Dresses should be in good condition and dry-cleaned. Dresses are being collected through April 22. Arlington high school students can shop for dresses on April 29 at the Arlington Education Center.
- Dresses can be delivered to Memorial Baptist Church at 3455 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, on Mondays and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m.
- Dresses can be mailed to 2311 Pimmitt Drive #1009, Falls Church, VA 22043.