ASTORIA — St. John’s Preparatory High School senior Rihanna Bonilla is using her new sewing skills to make an impact far beyond the classroom.
Alongside her classmates in the school’
s Junior Ladies of Charity, Rihanna has helped create dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World, a campaign founded in 2009 by Hope 4 Women International that distributes dresses to girls in need worldwide.
“We want to give them some sort of encouragement and want to give them these beautiful dresses, so they have their own little Cinderella transformation,” Rihanna said. “They could be princesses for a day, and we want to radiate that joy to them even though we can’t be there with them in person.”
The Junior Ladies of Charity took on the project last December after it was introduced by Pat Mulé, co-moderator of the Junior Ladies of Charity at both Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy and St. John’s Prep, both in Astoria.
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Since then, students have met weekly at their respective schools to learn sewing basics and assemble dresses under the guidance of Anna Rocchio, also co-moderator of the Junior Ladies of Charity at both campuses.
“I’ve been teaching them how to use the sewing machines, and how to cut on the fold, what the biases are [and] how to do the backing for the dresses,” Rocchio said.
Immaculate Conception fifth grader Miya Holmes said she likes helping people in need.
“I was just really happy to help sew dresses for people who don’t have them,” Miya said. “I can make other people happy.”
Mulé said the project is important because “every little girl deserves to have her own brand-new dress.” At the same time, she said, the project gives students an opportunity to learn a practical skill while serving others.
“Anna and I talked about it, and we said this would be really good for the girls because they get to make something that will go to someone who needs a dress, but also they’ll learn something that they don’t know,” Mulé said, adding that she is always looking for projects that allow students to “make somebody smile for a day.”
In the past, the group has prepared more than 100 sandwiches for pickup by the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx, delivered Thanksgiving meals to a neighboring assisted living facility, and planted a tree in honor of Laudato si’, Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical.
Once finished, the dresses will be shipped to either the Dress a Girl Around the World headquarters in Forest City, Iowa, or to a U.S. ambassador for distribution.
According to the organization, its mission is not only to provide clothing but also to send a message “that they are worthy of respect, and that they are loved by God.”
Rocchio, who has been supplying the girls with fabric and sewing machines, said she has been very impressed by what they have done so far.
“We are looking forward to the final product. We have a couple done at St. John’s Prep, and we are hoping to get a number of them done before Easter,” Rocchio said.
Ariana Yepez, a senior at St. John’s Prep, said she hopes her hard work pays off.
“I hope they love it,” Ariana said. “I am really excited because the thought of a girl having a dress that they can wear is so awesome.
“Also, I know how it feels — getting a new dress would be super amazing.”