community
may10
2011
“No Cute Dress Should Go To Waste”
7
Jazmin Worthey is helping girls find a great dress for prom night.
Jazmin Worthey, a junior at
Aloha High School, is helping prom
dresses find a home.
And while she’s doing this good
dead, she’s also helping young ladies,
not just at her high school but throughout
Jazmin Worthey with some of the prom
dresses she collected.
the Portland Metro area, find their dream
dress for prom night as well.
This past spring Worthey,
recognizing a need for her classmates
to find affordable dresses for their big
night, organized a fashion show/dress
give-away at her school. She collected
used dresses from girls she knew and
gathered some donations of new dresses
from some local stores. “Most times
girls just wear their dress once and then
they never use it again,” says Worthey.
“I understand it’s hard for everyone to
afford to go to prom—prom is crazy
expensive! I thought, if I could help
take away one expense, it would make it
better.”
The idea is that once a dress has
been worn it can be donated and worn
again the next year. And girls can pick
out a new dress at no cost. Everybody
wins—the girls and the dresses!
As Worthey was planning her
fashion show last month, she collected
forty-three dresses. Then the Oregonian
showed up and published a story about
her project. “The morning the article
appeared I started getting calls from
people with dresses to donate,” explains
Worthey. “In two days I had over 200
dresses!”
The day of the fashion show
started with 213 dresses. “Everyone that
came to the show left with a dress,” says
Worthy. Worthey says she had dresses
from size 0-38 and ended the day with
eighty dresses left over. Since then she
has given away even more.
The week before the Vernonia
Prom, Catherine Helmer, a Vernonia
resident who works in the Beaverton
School District and had heard about
Worthey’s project delivered twelve
dresses that Worthey donated to VHS.
Worthey grew up in Clatskanie,
so she has a connection to Columbia
County. “I understand how hard it is
to get a prom dress for girls up there,
the fashion show again next year and
will invite any and all girls to attend the
event and pick out a dress. “I want to
make it more well known next year and
get more communities involved,” she
VHS students and staff display some of the prom dresses that were donated to the school.
especially for girls in Vernonia or
Clatskanie,” says Worthey. “Sometimes
it’s hard for them to get out and go
shopping where they will have choices.”
And that’s where her motto fits
in--”No Cute Dress Should Go To Waste.”
“I didn’t want the focus to be on people
not being able to afford it—I wanted it
to be about making it accessible,” says
Worthey. “It’s really nice to be able to
help out other kids.”
Worthey says she plans to hold
says.
What about after she graduates?
Worthey says her Marketing Class
teacher plans to make it part of the class
curriculum, and will teach the project
to students each year so it keeps going.
Worthey also says she plans to train a
younger student next year to take her
place.
“I never expected it to get this
big,” says Worthey. “But I’m really glad
it did.”
Alex Miller Still Raising Funds For Australia Trip
Alexander Miller, a senior and student athlete
at Jewell High School, has the chance to make a trip of
a lifetime. He just needs to raise a few more dollars.
Miller, who played middle linebacker for
Jewell’s Division 1A, eight-man team has been chosen
to take part in the 23 rd Annual Down Under Football
Competition in Australia. Miller will compete as part
of the National West Central Conference Football team
along with other athletes from Oregon and Washington.
Miller was selected in part because he led the state this
past season with an average of over fifteen tackles per
game.
Miller says he didn’t even start playing football
until his junior year. “They don’t usually pick players
from 1A schools,” said Miller--so this really is a special
opportunity for him. Actually, Miller says he did try to
play organized football in eighth grade but his school
didn’t have enough players to field a team. “We didn’t
play any games, we just practiced,” explained Miller.
Down Under Sports Tournaments are hosted
each year in June and July in Australia and New Zealand
and bring together athletes from the United States,
Australia, and New Zealand to participate. Miller’s
trip would consist of one day in Sydney, six days on
Australia’s Gold Coast competing, and three days of
relaxing and experiencing the Polynesian culture of
Hawaii.
Prior standout participants of the Down
Under Football Competition include, Jake “The
Snake” Plummer—former quarterback for the Denver
Broncos, Ahman Green—running back for the Green
Bay Packers, and Rob Morris—2007 Super Bowl
Champion with the Indianapolis Colts.
Miller is raising funds for his trip through
sponsorships. So far he has raised about $3000; he still
needs $1400 before the end of May to have enough to
attend the trip. The money he raises will go towards
paying for his airfare, hotel, meals, uniform, tournament
fees, transportation, and insurance.
Miller says he intends to join the Navy after he
returns from his trip.
For more information go to www. DownUnder
Sports.com. Donations can be made to Alexander
Miller online at www.DownUnderSports.com-select
sponsor. You can also send a check made out to
“International Sports Specialists, Inc.” and send to
Alexander Miller, 13753 Hwy 202, Mist, OR 97016.
KELLY WESTON
503-429-6203
ARTHUR STRAND INSURANCE INC.
TOLL FREE 877-602-2345
LONG BEACH, WA 98631