You just never know what a day has in store for you. Today I planned to do errands and housework, maybe bake banana bread. Ho hum. Instead I’m starting a charity with Kristin, updating my resume, and getting ready for a foreign exchange student! I love good surprises!

I have my girls’ First Communion dresses in the back of my car. I wanted to get them out of the guest closet before Hendrik, our foreign exchange student, arrives from Germany. Because I was struggling with whether or not to save them for my girls (my mom saved ours), I called Kristin. We discussed the fact that we have 5 daughters between us, and more like 6 or 7 little white dresses after a couple of flower girl gigs, and there are so many families that can’t afford fancy dresses for First Communion.

Kristin had a brilliant idea! We could start a “First Communion Dress Collection” similar to the Prom Dress “shops” that are conducted for girls who can’t afford a dress for their prom. I live in a huge Catholic parish that has a significant underprivileged population. Wouldn’t it be fun to set up a cute little FREE “shop” for families to browse before First Communion each spring? Kristin lives in a city with a thriving Catholic population and a significantly higher socio-economic level. We will collect donated dresses, have them cleaned, store them until spring, and stage them for “resale” (at no cost to the customers)! I called my parish, and they are IN!

We are beside ourselves with excitement! What a fun way to reuse these beautiful dresses! And veils, and shoes, and gloves, and purses, and bows, and all of those sweet little accessories that make First Communion so memorable. We realize that not everyone is Catholic and makes their First Communion, but white flower girl dresses fit the bill perfectly for First Communion and can also be donated. 😉

I’m going to dig out all of our First Communion pics and post them! The picture is memory enough; we don’t want the dresses to get dusty and frail rather than be worn in another celebration of life!