pay attention!

This is an organization I believe in and support. I've worked with these women and was deeply affected by their heart, creativity, and hard work to help bless teenage girls. I hope you'll check out how you too can be involved with The Giving Gown.

This is an update from the founder, JoAnn Trchalek:

Hello Fairy Godmothers!
Here's an update on a few "happenings" as well as let you know what's to come. We are very excited about what our 2009 Boutique Days will bring.

We were featured this week with a very nice article in the Tomball/Magnolia Tribune. Donations have continued to trickle in, now that summer is over it's really time to move forward. We will be contacting local High Schools in early September & will be working with Counselors, Principals, Senior Girls Organizations & Parent Organizations. We also hope to again partner with students needing to fulfill volunteer hours by working with a non-profit group.

In June we were invited to speak at the Tomball Rotary Luncheon. It was a wonderful opportunity to tell our story to many active community members.

In July we held a candle fundraiser. One of our "fairy godmothers" had a wonderful contact; the owner of Charming Candles in Austin. It was a huge success & we are hoping to be able to sell candles again when the "Fall" scents come out. The proceeds from sales allowed us to purchase much needed racks & hangers.

On August the 10th we had the pleasure of taking part in the SOS (Society of Samaritans) Back to School Fashion Show. It was an exciting event. We had the opportunity to speak about our Foundation just before the "Formal Wear" portion of the show. All of the gowns worn in the show were then donated to The Giving Gown Foundation.

On September 20th Capitol One Bank in Tomball will be hosting a Community Dress Drive for us. They are going to provide signs & banners, advertisements as well as popcorn, drinks & sno-cones. We'll send more details on this event soon.

Capitol One Bank is also hosing a Float for us to be in the Tomball Holiday Parade. Again more details will be available soon.

And now for the big news: Boutique Day 2009 will be on Friday & Saturday March 27th &28th. Fellowship of the Woodlands has offered us the use of their Student Life Building for this event! We are very excited - the space will be perfect, and the location will be easy for girls from all over to come to.

We still have many needs. Please let us know if you are interested in helping with any of the above-mentioned events, or if you are able to help in other ways.

We would like to add several drop off locations outside of Tomball. Please contact us if your place of business would like to participate or if you know of a business that we should contact.

I would also like to let you know that we are working towards 501(c)3 status. It's a daunting ,tedious and costly task, but will open so many doors for us once it's complete. Please continue to pray for us and for those we are reaching out to.

Wishing you each a blessed day.

JoAnn Trchalek
The Giving Gown Foundation
www.givinggown.org