The Hundred Dresses

I read it last night. It was a really quick read - less than an hour - but such a cute story with a good moral. It was written sixty or more years ago - back in the day when young school girls wore dresses to school and the boys wore neckties. And even though the "school dress" of our time has changed dramatically over the decades, the same school yard dynamics exist among our children today and the same timeless lessons on kindness ring just as true in 2011. Really, I should have read it aloud with my girls, but they were already tucked into bed. They would have enjoyed it too. And more importantly, I'm sure we would have had a good talk afterwards. I will have to check it our at the library again and make time to read it with them. I did give it to Barrett to read today. I hope she finishes it before I have to return it tonight.

On Tuesday night at our Relief Society meeting, our group kicked off our spring service project, called "The Hundred Dresses." Our whole RS was divided up into six groups, each with a fearless leader, and each armed with a cute black dress chest housing this cute book inside. The plan is for each woman in our RS to take a turn with the black chest, read the book (if they want), and return it to the leader within three days with a donated dress inside. If everyone participates, we'll have collected the hundred dresses by late March and will donate them to the professional dress closet at the career development center run by Save the Family, a non-profit organization established to help families get back on their feet. Such a great idea for community service.

Our whole evening was centered on service that we can do outside of our normal comfort circles. We were encouraged to get out into the community more and do some good. It's easy for us to serve in our families and wards and neighborhoods. And sometimes we feel like we do it endlessly. But even so, we need to do more. And we can. Really, I think we can. Even the busiest among us. Even if we do something small, like donate a dress or two or ten, volunteer at a school, help pack some weekend food for hungry kids, volunteer at a charity race, or whatever - a little community service will do us all some good.

So I took the first round with our group's dress chest and book and am excited to return it tonight with a handful of dresses. We're only asked to donate one, but really, I have a number of nice, professional suits and dresses that I could donate and I am happy to do it. I'm sure there is some woman out there who would be thrilled to have something nice to wear to a job interview or new job. Really, it's such a small thing.

Thanks to the good women of the Harris Park Relief Society for coming up with this idea. It was a fun night with the girls for sure and a good reminder for us all.