ACO Princess Project
March 5, 2015
Suncreek United Methodist Church
facebook.com/acoprincessproject
Seven years ago in the spring of 2009 with only fifty dresses, the small staff of five at the Allen Resale Shop opened their doors one evening to a prom event. They may have given away only five dresses, but to those five Allen High School seniors, it was a night they would never forget and the prom event was born.
In 2013, The Allen prom event, now known as the “Princess Project” moved their event from the overcrowded resale shop on Main Street to Palmer Hall at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen. A partnership with the church has allowed the event to grow beyond measure. “If you would have told us six years ago that we would have nearly a thousand dresses and be giving them away to girls in Allen, Lucas, McKinney, Princeton and beyond, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Del Herrod, Director of Resale Operations and the founder of the program. The partnership between Del Herrod of ACO and Janet Hunt, Director of Community Ministries at Suncreek UMC utilized volunteers from both entities. “Suncreek UMC is so very blessed to host the Princess Project every year at our facilities so ACO has the space to expand this amazing ministry. Everyone who has volunteered finds such joy in watching each girl try on dresses and leave feeling like a queen, “ says Mrs. Hunt.
“With ACO expanding its services through the resale shops and food pantry, it made sense that we share our blessing with girls in other cities less fortunate,” commented Del Herrod. Last year, the team of fairy godmothers went to McKinney North High School and Farmersville High School and set up a table during lunch to educate the students about donating their dresses and coming to an event to buy dresses at a heavy discount and to attend if they needed help purchasing a dress. ACO will make sure that no girl leaves without a dress if payment is an issue.
This year’s event promises to be as exciting as years past. The Princess Project will be held on March 5, 2015 at Suncreek United Methodist Church at 1517 W. McDermott Drive in Allen. Doors open to the public at 6:00 pm and will close at 9:00 pm. After the event the dresses will be moved to the Allen Resale Shop at 801 E. Main Street to be sold or given to girls in need.
Donations of dresses, shoes, jewelry and gift cards to nail and hair salons, restaurants and florists are desperately needed. Donations can be dropped off at any of our Resale locations in Allen, McKinney or Farmersville.
Any girl that needs help with prom and lives in Collin County can get assistance by calling ACO at 972-727-9131 or texting 469-609-PROM for more information. Updates will also be made on our Facebook page ACO PRINCESS PROJECT.