Susan’s Closet helps mission by selling dresses for formal events
In one of the many efforts to raise money, awareness and education about breast cancer, the Northwest Louisiana affiliate of Susan G. Komen is playing host to their annual Susan’s Closet event where they will sell donated formal gowns for girls to attend their high school homecomings and proms.
The dresses will be sold for $25 regardless of the original price and all of the proceeds go directly into grant research and local mission work. The event will be held 7 a.m. Feb. 8 in the gym at First Baptist Church at 533 Ockley St.
“Susan’s Closet was designed to give every girl an opportunity to look like a princess as they attend their high school formal events,” Stacy Smith, chairman of Susan’s Closet for Susan G. Komen of NWLA, said. “The vision of Susan G. Komen is a world without breast cancer and the promise is to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures.”
Smith said the benefits of the Susan’s Closet event will allow the work of Susan G. Komen to continue in NWLA.
“Each day, we empower people by educating them about breast self awareness [such as] knowing what is normal for your breasts and reporting any changes to your healthcare provider, and the importance of the early detection breast cancer – chances of survival are greatly increased with early detection,” Smith said.
“We ensure quality care for all by providing free clinical breast exams and mammograms for people who don’t have health insurance,” she said. “We energize science to find the cures by awarding more money to breast cancer research than any other organization next to the federal government.”
The Susan G. Komen organization has more than 120 affiliates. Seventyfive percent of the money raised through their fundraisers and the Race for the Cure event goes directly into the mission work for that local area. The money is granted to local nonprofit organizations that provide breast health education and screening. In Northwest Louisiana, the current community grantees who provide those services are Partners in Wellness at University Health, Martin Luther King Health Center, St. Luke’s Episcopal Mobile Medical Ministry and CHRISTUS Coushatta Health Care Center. The remaining 25 percent of the money raised goes to the research grants program.
The idea behind the Susan’s Closet fundraiser came to fruition six years ago as a way to raise money while also making good use from donated gowns. It has since grown into a full-fledged fundraising event and has dozens of volunteers to help make it happen.
“Susan’s Closet is named for Susan G. Komen and it was started by Brenda Norton six years ago as a fundraiser for the NWLA affiliate,” Smith said. “Brenda was the first person in the local area to see how women could recycle their used prom, formals and wedding dresses while raising money to fight breast cancer. Several other groups now have a similar re-sale [event], but only Susan’s Closet raises money for the NWLA affiliate.”
“Last year, Brenda handed the event over to NWLA SGK and this is the first year a new chairman is volunteering to chair the event,” she continued.
Women can use this opportunity to clean out their closets and drop off their dresses, matching shoes and accessories at any location of Porter’s Cleaners – and even get a tax-deductible receipt if they so choose. From there, the dresses are sorted and arranged by volunteers and sold at the one-day event for no more than $25. Cash and debit are accepted, and donations of the dresses will continue through Jan. 31.
– Katie Ho
WANT TO DONATE?
What: dresses, shoes and accessories
When: deadline Jan. 31
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the NWLA affiliate at komennwla. org or call 220-7050.
