DIVA Donations provides dresses for those in need
There’s a program helping young women feel beautiful before a big event with little financial burden throughout the Mahoning Valley area and across three states.
Kristin Bodendorfer founded DIVA Donations in 2011 based on an idea to help her daughter’s friends who didn’t have access to formal wear for a budget.
Since 2011, her organization has helped approximately 3,700 young women get the prom and homecoming experience, equipping them with dresses, shoes, purses and corsages ahead of the event for virtually no cost.
“We serve 12 counties and three states, so we serve Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia,” Bodendorfer said. “I’ve had girls come all the way from Cincinnati because their family lives here and they don’t have a program like this near them. It’s been all over Ohio.”
How do DIVA Donations work?
DIVA Donation’s mission is to relieve financial stress on families in the local community and beyond before events like homecoming, prom, quinceañeras, pageants and more celebrations.
“The girls get everything they need to come to a dance or a special occasion event for free,” Bodendorfer said. “They’re all able to do those things [like prom and pageants] which are self-esteem building things and not have to put that financial stress on their families by donating two hours of volunteer service.”
Junior high through college students can get everything they need, from dresses to shoes and accessories, thanks to fairy godmothers and the Kind Deed Currency.
“All they have to do is donate two hours of volunteer service helping any 501 c3 charity, that is our Kind Deed Currency,” Bodendorfer said. “The girls will come in, and first they do put a deposit down. We had to do that because, unfortunately, we had some dishonesty. It’s a $35 deposit for homecoming, and that includes everything.”
Part of the Kind Deed Currency is donating two hours of volunteering to any 501 (c3) charity.
“You’ll bring us a letter that states you donated two hours of volunteer service on a letterhead, whether it is Angels for Animals or your church; any type of 501 (c3) charity, you bring us a letter, then you get all your money back,” Bodendorfer said.
Volunteers known as fairy godmothers help program participants find what suits their style among the 2,500 dresses on the racks at DIVA Donations.
“The fairy godmothers help the girls find everything that they need to be able to go to their dance,” said Bodendorfer. “We check them in, and then they get assigned a fairy godmother, who asks them a couple of different questions to get an idea of what they’re looking for. We ask them if they want to be a princess or a movie star because it gives us some idea of whether they want a sleek style, or they want a poofy, princess style.”
Anyone interested in participating in the DIVA Donations program can sign up to make an appointment online.
DIVA Donations is now headquartered on the bottom floor of the white building at 8590 Hitchcock Road in Boardman.
How can people help?
Suppose you have formal dresses, bridesmaid dresses, shoes, purses, jewelry, and similar items. In that case, you can drop them off at the following locations:
- Coventry lighting in Canfield
- Posh Places in North Lima
- Angela Kristas’ Hair Salon in Poland
- Clothes Mentor in Howland
“You just go there during the store hours and say ‘I have donations for DIVA Donations.’ We take dresses, shoes, jewelry, purses, cover-ups, like shawls or little jackets. We also take unopened makeup, IPSY bags and silk flowers because our fairy godmothers actually make the corsages and boutonnières. Everything is there for them; they don’t have to go anywhere else and it’s all included,” said Bodendorfer.
Attend Dancing Through The Decades Adult Prom
If you’re looking for another way to help their organization directly, grab a ticket to DIVA Donation’s fundraiser dance, Dancing Through The Decades Adult Prom.
“We’ll have a full dinner, dessert bar, selfie stations and retro selfie stations ...contests and a prom king and a prom queen with a full Prom court,” said Bodendorfer. “We need to be able to continue to serve. Especially in this day and age, people are struggling even more than they were before. We want to make sure we can keep this this organization going and doing keep doing what we’re doing. And so that’s why our fundraiser so important.”
The dance starts at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at The Embassy in Youngstown with music provided by AMDJ Entertainment.
Buy tickets online for the dance at $45 per person or $350 for a table of eight.
How did DIVA Donations get started?
According to Bodendorfer, the organization was founded in 2011 after she had an idea to collect a few formal dresses for a daughter’s friend who needed a new look for the dance.
“Her friend was being raised by grandma, and grandma was on a fixed income,” Bodendorfer said. “The first time her friend ever went to a dance, she went wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and they wouldn’t let her in. So we said, ‘No, that’s not happening again.’ My daughter and I would go to thrift stores and retail stores and pick up dresses for $5 or $10.”
She collected about 15 dresses and didn’t know what to do with the gowns after her daughter graduated from high school.
“We put a post on Facebook that said ‘Prom’s coming; if anybody has a dress, let me know. If anybody needs a dress, let me know,’” she said. “I ended up with 200 dresses in three months and I knew I was supposed to do something with this.”
With a growing inventory, Bodendorfer called local businesses like Fashion Forward in Lisbon, previously owned by Susan Shank.
“Shank called me and said, ‘I have 600 dresses for you and for your organization.’ I didn’t even have a place for 600 dresses, but I knew I was supposed to take them. I knew this was what I was supposed to do.”
With the help of her five children and her husband, they set up ladders in their garage and work van to hang the plastic-wrapped formal dresses on.
For her first location for DIVA Donations, Bodendorfer rented the former South Range High School. Still, they’ve since moved to their new location at 8590 Hitchcock Road in Boardman.
“I would babysit so I could pay the rent while the kids helped me move everything in. We had 35 girls the first homecoming, and then it just kept growing and growing and growing and growing,” she said.
Shank is now one of the seven board members for DIVA Donations. Bodendorfer thanked her and other local business owners for donating their inventory of dresses and supplies.
Learn more about volunteering as a fairy godmother at DIVA Donations online.
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This story was originally published August 24, 2023 at 6:00 AM.