Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 6-4-21

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Dress For Success Fulfills Pre-Pandemic Promise By Delivering Swag Bags To School District
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
In early 2020, Dress for Success (DFS) of Tampa Bay was busy planning an event to bring Miss USA, Cheslie Kryst to Tampa. Kryst was very active in DFS nation- wide.
The event was to be at the Florida Aquarium for Kryst to meet with local girls se- lected by various youth groups from the school and the community. Just under 200 girls were selected, and the event was set for March 27, 2020. Unfortunately, the event had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
The DFS committee made up of Chair Patsy Greene,
Katie McGill, Executive Director of Dress for Success; Patsy Greene, Dress for Success Board Member, Lanita Lucas, Coordinator, Family and Community Engagement for Transformation Network, and Shaylia McRae, Chief of Transformation Network.
Lanita Lucas, Sylvia An- drews, Vanessa Brown Bennett, Sartura Smith, Stephanie Wilson, and Dewana McCarty were de- termined that the selected girls would at least get the special swag bags made just for them. On May 26, 2021, the first group of swag bags were delivered.
Greene states, “these bags are being given to the youth groups that are a part of the Hillsborough County School District. The bags will go to the young ladies that were selected to attend Miss USA event last year. We are in the process of contacting and distributing the remaining bags to other community youth groups.
“We are all so sorry the event was canceled because of COVID-19. We hope this little token will bring some smiles to these young ladies faces. ”
Mayor Jane Castor says, “for decades, Katie McGill and her team at Dress for Success have clothed count- less women in the confidence and skills they need to step into the workforce with their heads held high. Although this event was postponed, it will still have a positive im- pact on many young girls in our community who need the inspiration and empower- ment Dress for Success pro- vides.”
(Photograph by BRUN- SON)
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