The Puddle People Hour  

For the third year in a row, Miracles of Hope, http://www.miracles-of-hope.com, is collecting Prom Dresses for Katrina Victims through Becca‘s Closet, http://www.beccascloset.org.

The Prom Dress campaign, for those who don’t know the story, began with Rebecca Kirtman, a remarkably caring 16 year old from Florida. In the spring of her freshman year at Nova High School, Rebecca started a dress bank to provide dresses and accessories to high school girls who wanted to attend their prom or homecoming but could not afford it. That year, Becca was able to collect over 250 prom dresses. Regretfully, Becca passed away in a tragic automobile accident on August 20, 2003, but her legacy goes on through the efforts of friends and family.

Last year Becca’s Closet and Sharon Stone’s organization, Planet Hope, helped Miracles of Hope with every single girl who contacted them for help. In addition, Planet Hope also donated two designer gowns, along with accessories of jewelry and perfume for the girls. Donations are accepted all year long, however, the deadline for this prom season is April.

Miracles-of-hope.com is helping direct collections to the areas who need help, for example, there is a group of 40 high school musicians who are going to New Orleans to give a concert and donate 100K worth of musical instruments. They contacted Miracles of Hope because a couple of the girls want to collect gowns so they are setting them up for their collection to go to a Becca’s Closet chapter in that area. Denise Marhoefer, founder of Miracles of Hope, also says that, “anyone who would want to collect and be responsible for sending them to the Katrina area can collect for me that way, I have people on the ground there who can distribute.” She goes on to say that she is concentrating on helping the hardest hit areas this year.

The Miracles of Hope Network is a fantastic organization dedicated to helping children all over the world. The description on their website states, "Miracles Of Hope Network is made up of child agencies, organizations, and celebrities world-wide, who are dedicated to the creation and restoration of good in the lives of children." These agencies and organizations include: The Defense Foundation for Children, The Juvenile Defender, Healing Horses, Brainstormers INC, and 911 Gear.

You can visit http://www.miracles-of-hope.com and view a “RockYou” slideshow of the beautiful gowns. It is amazing to see one girl’s legacy touch so many hearts. The inspired spirit of humanity moves on.

If you would like to assist in this worthwhile project, please visit http://www.beccascloset.org to either find a chapter near you or start a chapter of your own. You can also contact Denise Marhoefer at defensefoundation@gmail.com for information about sending dresses directly to the Katrina area for distribution.

Written in collaboration with Mary Beth Marino, The Writing Editor, www.thewritingeditor.com