Torrance, CA (March 5, 2015): Each year, Concordia Club, under the guidance of veteran Spanish teacher Laura Fabbri, dedicates their time serving the school community as well as those in Los Angeles and around the world. Among their projects, they make fleece blankets for children in our local hospitals, raise money for leukemia patients, and gather supplies for those serving in the military. Recently, a new project grabbed their attention thanks to another longtime teacher, Dulcie Galdamez.
Through the Dress a Girl Around the World campaign, Hope 4 Women International provides dresses for at-risk women and girls. Galdamez, who has been teaching at BMHS for over 25 years, became involved in the organization through her late sister, Olga Martinez. Prior to Olga’s death in 2014 from ovarian cancer, Galdamez helped her sister and other members of her family make 100 dresses for the campaign. In fact, the dresses were shipped only a few days before Olga’s passing. It was an experience that had a tremendous impact on Galdamez. “After my sister’s death, we decided as a family to carry on her legacy by continuing to make dresses for the cause,” says Galdamez. Along with her mother, an aunt, and her sister in Houston, Galdamez was ready to make another 100 dresses with the help of the students in Concordia.
While working with her family on the second 100 dresses, Galdamez approached Fabbri and the Concordia Club about getting involved. With about 80 dresses already made, Galdamez asked Concordia members to help make the final twenty. It was an instant hit. “The [Concordia] girls really embraced the project,” says Galdamez. In February, Concordia received a visit from Jan Cooper, a southern California representative for Dress a Girl Around the World, who took the dresses for delivery. One of the things Galdamez likes most about the project is that the dresses get hand-delivered to those in need, not just shipped off and forgotten. Cooper assured Galdamez of this, telling her that her most recent placement of 700 dresses was taken to Uganda by a group of people traveling there to dig wells in an impoverished area.
Work has begun on making a third set of 100 dresses and this time, Concordia Club, Fabbri, and Galdamez have been joined by other members of the faculty and the greater BMHS community. “The girls in Concordia have either supplied or gathered all the matierials for the third set of dresses,” explains Galdamez. “We have finished about 50 dresses with a goal of completing this set by Thanksgiving.”
If you would you like to help Concordia send dresses to girls around the world, you can sponsor the project by donating nice, clean cotton fabric and/or thread. Concordia Club also welcomes anyone who would like to stop by campus after school to help. Contact Laura Fabbri at [email protected].
For more information about the project, visit www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com.