Sisters put sparkle in holidays by collecting Christmas dresses for families in need
Two Winnipeg sisters are collecting Christmas dresses with the hope of putting the sparkle into another girl's holiday season. The kids are hoping to distribute them to girls who may not have fancy dresses to wear over the holidays.
Ry-Anne Berard, nine, and seven-year-old her sister, Ashlin, love getting dressed up. With the holiday season approaching, the girls are looking forward to getting "fancy." When they found out that not all girls get the chance to get dolled up over the holidays, they wanted to help.
The girls' grandmother volunteers with the Salvation Army and mentioned that perhaps they could donate some of their dresses so that other girls could get dressed up too.
"It was kind of mentioned that maybe dresses would be a good thing. Lots of kids don't have them and I try to teach my girls that they do get a lot more than most children do," said Cora Berard, the girls' mother.
That's when Ry-Anne took the idea to her classmates and teacher at Harold Hatcher Elementary School.
"One morning Ry-Anne came to me and mentioned that she wanted to collect dresses and she talked about what her nana does and how she wants to do something kind for these little girls," said Ry-Anne's teacher, Shelley Giesbrecht.
That's when the entire class got involved and the project grew.
Giesbrecht said her entire class of Grade 2 and Grade 3 students wanted to get involved, even the boys. They began to make posters to put up around the school to encourage donations.
"Some of the boys were feeling a little bit left out, but because of the posters and because of the attention, they are getting excited as well," said Giesbrecht.
Every girl should get a dress
"I'm hoping they will think 'Oh my gosh we're going to get dresses,'" said Ry-Anne, "Because every girl should get a dress, and because it's important that every girl gets what they want."
Ashlin said she loves wearing dresses, especially this time of year when there are parties to go to "because they are fancy."
The students have already collected 32 dresses, but that number is steadily growing. They are also open to receiving boys' dress clothes as well.
"We are absolutely welcoming that, we don't want anyone to feel left out of this opportunity," said Giesbrecht.
The dresses will be collected and stored at the school until December 8. The Salvation Army will then distribute them to families in need.
