The Fairy Dress Mother

If the typical high school junior is funny, smart, big hearted and articulate, then 17-year-old Gianna Boracchia is your typical student.

She’s been a cheerleader since freshman year, active in student leadership and plans to study theater arts at Southern Oregon University after graduation. Her idea of being embarrassed is the stuff of normal teen angst.

“My last big embarrassing moment was having to look for my little brother downtown while wearing my cheerleading uniform,” Gianna says with a giggle.

Truth be told, one of her most embarrassing moments happened three years ago at a freshman dance.  It’s the reason why she is creating an effort, called Once Upon a Dress, to provide free and low-cost donated special occasion dresses to girls who need them.

“My mom and I love shopping for dresses and I have a lot of them. So when I pulled a pretty dress from my closet for a freshman dance I was excited about wearing it,” she said.

Remember the drama of school dances? How much every look, every comment, mattered?

A senior girl came up to Boracchia and asked her why on earth she’d wear a dress already seen at an eighth grade dance. The words stung and stuck with her.

“A senior criticized me and it really hurt me. She judged me. I felt so terrible I nearly went home and changed,” she recalled. “The funny thing was I had a new dress but wanted to wear my old one.”

Fast forward to this summer. After years of selling cookies and running Christmas tree recycling efforts with Girl Scout Troop 10075 of Petaluma, Boracchia faced the challenge creating her Gold Award Girl Scout project. Gold Awards for Girl Scouts are on a par with Eagle Awards for Boy Scouts.

She remembered the cutting remarks at that dance and did a little research. There are many nonprofits that put prom and homecoming dresses in the arms of girls who need them, but there was no such effort in Petaluma.

“Why should anyone be teased or taunted for being out of style or wearing a dress twice?” she said.

The Girl Scout Gold Awards have rules. Scouts must be sure that the project is new, is needed, and girls must do all the work completely on their own with guidance from an adult Scout-appointed advisor.

So Boracchia sent out e-mail alerts to potential donors via several large social network communities, including that of St. Vincent High School. In no time, pink ruffled, green shimmering, blue sequined, red satin and beige sparkly dresses came pouring in.

“People have been great. gave us all the hangers we wanted. I can go back and get more any time. I found a great business willing to let us store the dresses in an unused back room,” she said.

She is planning to hold a Labor Day weekend give-away by invitation and sale.

“We are making dresses available to girls who need them for free and we will also sell dresses for those who can afford them at very low prices. Those sales will help us fund the effort and continue the program,” she said.

She has already started working with her school to make the Once Upon a Dress a self-sustaining effort under St. Vincent’s Student Leadership program.

“Every girl deserves to feel beautiful at a school dance. If all it takes is a pretty dress, I know our community will support it," she said.

If you would like to donate dresses, you can email Gianna at fairydressmother@gmail.com