Halston Clothing Donates Fall Festival Fabrics to Girls at The Marsh Foundation
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VAN WERT, Ohio – What do the girls at The Marsh Foundation’s Clymer Hall and the models of Los Angeles Fashion week have in common? They’ve both recently been spotted wearing fabrics and clothing from Halston Clothing!
Author and philanthropist Dennis Yang of the Papa Didos Ideals Foundation and Halston Clothing provided a generous donation of fabrics left over from their Fall and Winter 2012 clothing lines to help make Halloween special for the girls at Clymer Hall. Overnight family teacher Lisa Washam was instrumental in this project.
Washam worked with the girls throughout the months of September and October to help them design their own unique Halloween costumes from a variety of haute couture fabrics that included silks and embroidered lace.
Washam said they had only one rule, “I encouraged the girls to go big and have fun designing the dress of their dreams.” Washam said she loved seeing the girls’ reactions in the mornings after she’d spent time sewing, and them seeing their dresses take shape. “One of their happiest surprises was learning they actually got to keep the costumes,” said Washam.
In 2010, Washam provided costume workshops with the Marsh Hall boys and loves to create costumes with and for the youth to provide them with a special Halloween memory and a costume created for them and them alone. “This year was particularly enjoyable for me because we were able to use high-quality fabrics used in upscale fashions and seen on the ramous runways to create the Halloween costumes for our girls at Clymer Hall,” said Washam.
The Papa Didos Ideals Foundation promotes education and literacy to at-risk and disadvantaged youth. Founder Dennis Yang visited The Marsh Foundation during his 2011 run across the country. Halston clothing has been worn by celebrities such as Jacqueline Kennedy, Lauren Bacall and Elizabeth Taylor.
Serving children and families since 1922, The Marsh Foundation is a not-for-profit children’s services agency that provides behavioral treatment in a variety of settings. Services include group homes, treatment and family foster care, an intensive treatment program and independent living. Located in Van Wert, Ohio, the organization’s group homes are licensed for up to 30 children ages 7 – 17, offers an on-campus school for grades 2 – 12 and provides a variety of clinical services to group home residents, foster children and community members.
The mission of The Marsh Foundation is to inspire hope, to teach and to care for children and families. For more information about The Marsh, visit www.marshfoundation.org.
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Photo caption: One of the girls from Clymer Hall models her Halloween costume created with Halston fabrics.