Belle of the ball Free Homecoming Dresses

Belle of the Ball Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which provides Prom and Homecoming dresses to high school girls in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Hernando, Citrus and surrounding counties for their high school dances. Our mission statement is “No girl should be denied the opportunity to attend her high school dance because of financial difficulties”. We are a 100% volunteer organization and rely solely on donations and sponsors. For information on how you can volunteer and/or make a donation, please visit our website at: www.BelleOfTheBallProject.com

Belle of the Ball’s beautifully decorated 5,000 sq.ft boutique is located at 1210 Holt Avenue in Clearwater. The Boutique is ONLY open on designated dress distribution shopping days. High school girls can choose from over 3,000 gorgeous donated dresses that are organized by color and size (many still have the tags on them) for their high school dances and military ball dance.

To qualify for a dress the high school girl must appear in person. No documentation or referral letter is necessary for we operate on the honor system. Our goal is to provide an enjoyable atmosphere creating a memorable experience for the girls! The girls are allowed one person on the boutique floor to help them select their dress, however please note that men and children are not allowed on the floor. The Belle of the Ball volunteers will be available to help you select dresses and assist you in the dressing room as needed.

All shopping distribution days are held on Saturdays between the hours of 9am- 2pm. No appointments are necessary, nor do we make them.

Homecoming 2019 Shopping dates are:
Saturday, September 7th 9am – 2pm
Saturday, September 21st 9am – 2pm
Saturday, October 5th 9am – 2pm
Saturday, October 12th 9am – 2pm

These are the ONLY days to receive a dress for Homecoming season

For more information please visit:
Our Website: Belleoftheballproject.com
Facebook: Tampa Bay Area Belle of the Ball
Twitter: BelleOfTheBall @TBayBelleofBall
To contact us:
Office phone: 1-877-77BELLE (1-877-772-3553)
To volunteer: volunteerbelle.info@gmail.com
To donate: donationsbelle.info@gmail.com

Director of Operations: Barbara McCarthy
barbara@suncountrycleaners.com

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School Improvement Planning Days at Citrus Schools

Today was one of those days as a school board member that I so enjoy. I attended the School Advisory Council (SAC) School Improvement Planning days at Central Ridge Elementary and Citrus Springs Middle School.

At these vital planning meetings, they bring together stakeholders including the school administrators, teachers, parents and school board members to review performance data, current strategies, curriculum and much more. During these meetings, critical, frank and open conversations lead to the development of a school improvement plan to positively impact our students and their classrooms. I have the pleasure to be a part of these meetings for nearly 15 years, first as a parent, then the SAC chairman, and now as a school board member. I am always impressed with the process and the bring together of these stakeholders.

During the afternoon each schools’ teams from every school in the district came back together at Citrus High School, with district education leaders to further collaborate and finalize their respective School Improvement Plans.

I look forward to reading through the adopted plans when they are complete.  Thank you to all the many staff, parents, community members, district personnel and school administrators for your productive and important work.

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Blessings Board Tours County Neighborhoods

Yesterday as both a Citrus County Blessings Board of Directors member and a representative of the Citrus County School Board, I joined many of our Blessings Board members on a tour of our county’s neighborhoods to see where many of our Blessing’s students live to have a better understanding of how we can continue to help our students and families.

The morning began in Lecanto at the County Community Center where Blessings rents their office and storage.  We boarded a standard issue Citrus School Bus and traveled through Homosassa and Crystal River neighborhoods. We stopped at one of Blessings major partners, Citrus County’s Community Food Bank.  The Food Bank (as it is often referred too) is home to their 7,200 sq. ft. food warehouse. The Food Bank is the largest food supplier to Blessings and over 50 other food pantries throughout Citrus County and surrounding counties.  Blessings purchases food each year from the Food Bank at significate savings then if we purchased the food direct. It is the savings that allows Blessings to better serve the near 1,400 students that are food-insecure in Citrus County.

Next, the bus traveled through the neighborhoods of Floral City and Inverness stopping at Withlacoochee Technical College, where another major partner of Blessings is based, the Citrus County Education Foundation. Executive Director Shaunda Burdette and Associate Director Susan Frampton tour us through the CCEF “teacher store”.  At this ALL FREE store, teachers may “shop” for supplies for their students and classrooms.  Blessings operates a section of the store, Blessings supplies snacks for teachers to provide to students in their classroom. Last school year CCEF provides approximately $50,000 in supplies from the CCEF Teacher’s Store.  While at CCEF Ms. Burdette and Ms. Frampton provided a lovely lunch for Blessings. This gave both CCEF and Blessings an opportunity to share about the work we are doing individually and collectively.  During lunch Blessing’s Grace Hengesbach shared the connection between CCEF and Blessings, as we are the only two organizations whose sole purpose is to meet the needs of our Citrus County students.

Next, the bus headed to the neighborhoods in Hernando, Dunnellon and Beverly Hills. Our school bus driver was so valuable to the knowledge and better understanding we learned this day. Throughout our journey, our bus driver would point out the areas our students lived and help us better understand about our student’s lives.

I want to thank Blessings outgoing Executive Director, Grace Hengesbach and incoming Executive Director, Connie Storms for all their work putting together this incredibly informative day.

To learn more about Blessings and for those wishing to volunteer or donate to Citrus County Blessings please visit the website at: www.citruseducation.org

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