A program providing formal wear for youth in Williams Lake to attend events may be disappearing
Some who donated dresses to the Glass Slipper Boutique in Williams Lake were surprised to see their dresses show up on Marketplace this week.
A post advertising a formal wear sale surprised some in the Williams Lake community and sparked comments on the post asking how the dresses came to be for sale in Quesnel when they were supposed to be for youth who needed them in Williams Lake.
“What? I’m confused, I thought these dresses were at the glass slipper in W.L [sic]. My daughter donated her dress so that a youth that couldn’t afford one could use it, what is it doing here,” asked Sandra Hinter in a comment.
A response from the poster of the dresses stated she did not know anything about the Glass Slipper and she was contacted to purchase the inventory.
While the commenters did not blame the person who posted the dresses, people appeared surprised to see the donated items up for sale and to find out the program they were for may be no more.
“This is unfair to those who donated their dresses with the intention of disadvantaged youths being able to have something to wear – and highly unfair to the youths who now do not get the option this year and the following years to be able to have this option,” said Kallie Schick in a comment on the post.
The program has a long history in the community and School District 27 had housed the dresses since 2020, with BGC Williams Lake Club (formerly Williams Lake Boys and Girls Club) hosting pop-ups and offering what support they could, said Krista Harvey, BGC club manager.
“The Glass Slipper was a great program,” she said, noting in the 2018-2019 school year, before the school district took it over, 49 youth accessed the formal wear program, according to their records.
The program aimed to help make graduation or other formal occasions special for young people who either may not be able to afford formal wear or who were unable to get something ahead. The volunteer-led program relied on donations of grad dresses and tuxes to help give grads who may not otherwise have even wanted to participate, able to have a special day with their classmates.
When contacted by the Tribune, Hinter said there is a huge need in the community for the service.
“In the long term, it’s the community that’s going to suffer,” she said, if the service disappears for youth.
School District 27 Supt. Cheryl Lenardon sent the Tribune an email response Friday, Feb. 14, saying the Glass Slipper Initiative developed without formal ownership.
Lenardon said it has had the support of dress donations from the public, and staff resources and locations from the school district and Boys and Girls Club and has been accessed by a handful of students in each of the past few years.
“Management of inventory, cleaning, storage, and set up locations have been challenges. Inventory has been aging, in varying states of wear and tear, and in and out of storage,” she noted. “BGC had graciously taken responsibility for the initiative for approximately the past year and a half to allow for the potential development of a viable plan for sustainable continuation of the project. Neither BGC nor the district had the capacity to continue and a new sponsor had not been found.”
Lenardon said the inventory was given to a business in the region that does dress sales and rental with agreement the district could arrange for and assist students in need to access the shop’s rentals with no cost.
“There are other ways too that we can assist students with this,” she added. “There has been no wrongdoing by any staff. There is no wrongdoing on the part of the business owner who was not aware of the specific history, other than they had been used for students in need and came with the request to provide dresses to our students in need as requested by the schools. No student will be left without appropriate attire for their special day.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the original with a response from School District 27 Supt. Cheryl Lenardon.
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