By Heather Leiphart, Student Reporter
Remember those old prom dresses collecting dust in the back of your closet that you can’t bring yourself to throw away? Consider donating them. The Student Social Work Association is accepting all formal outfits to give to teens in the Child Protective Services program who cannot afford their own.
“Here at ACU, there are a lot of social clubs, and people are always going to formals,” said SSWA Chaplain Abby Rix, junior social work major from Tinton Falls, N.J. “All of us have some kind of dress or formal outfit that we just don’t need. It’s an opportunity for all of the students on campus to give to the CPS kids from what they have.”
CPS removes children from their home due to abuse or neglect from their parents or guardians, said Joseph Lopez, SSWA president and social work graduate student from Haskell. When the kids turn 16 years old, they enter the Preparation for Adult Living program, which helps them adjust to adult independence. CPS plans a yearly formal for the teens in the PAL program, which many attend in addition to their individual high school proms.
“They are always shuffling through different schools, so [CPS] thought it would be a good idea to put on a prom just for them,” Rix said.
Hardin-Simmons University is donating the prom, while ACU will donate the prom dresses.
Abilene falls under Region 2, one of five regions in Texas, which covers kids from Wichita Falls to San Angelo.
Last semester, SSWA donated a Christmas dinner through the PAL program. Many of the teens were experiencing their first year out of the foster system and would not have had the money for their own holiday meal, Lopez said.
In addition to the prom dress drive, SSWA organizes a support group for children in the Abilene community and their families who have type 1 diabetes. The group meets every other Monday at Hillcrest Church of Christ from 5-7:30 p.m. and is always looking for volunteers to serve refreshments and talk to the kids and their families, Rix said.
Donated dresses can be sent to the Social Work office in the Hardin Administration Building; the deadline is Feb. 20.
