Anna's Closet

There is something fantastic when tragedy leads to triumph, when grief gives way to hope. In 2005 a young girl who was a junior at my daughter's high school was killed in a car accident, her name was Anna. A story was passed on to Anna's mom about a girl who borrowed a dress for a formal from Anna. The orange dress looked fantastic on the underclassman, and Anna insisted she keep it. Her generous spirit lives on in a fundraiser called Anna's Closet. This is my daughter's Senior year, and the last time she will participate in this great fund raiser.

Throughout the year, the committee requests donations of dresses from girls at other schools, celebrities and alumni. All the dresses are sold at a one day sale for $10 each. The money raised goes to Emmanuel Center in Memphis to buy books for their after school program and the dresses that don't sell will be donated to the Center so that girls who might not be able to afford a dress for Prom or other event can have one.

What a great idea. Most formal dresses are a wear once and done type of purchase. Teenage girls seem to think that everyone remembers what they wore last year. I can't remember what I wore last week! This year they have hundreds of dresses. For $10 each, a girl could buy a few to hold on to for the next couple of events. Some of the dresses still have price tags on them! Who does that? Buys something and never wears it? Me? Oh yea, maybe once (or twice). This year they even had a bridal store donate dozens of pairs of shoes. Can you imagine buying a new pair of shoes for $10? Last year the line to get in the sale was easily a half mile long. Crazy shoppers looking for a bargain. As gas edges closer to the $4 mark, who wouldn't want a $10 dress?

So naturally, in the planning meetings for this fundraiser, someone mentions they need cookies and before you can say "Boo!" someone I gave birth to said "My mom will bake the cookies". I love that kid. Last year I didn't get much lead time. This year they decided they wanted cookies for the silent auction the night before, and only 4 dozen instead of 15 dozen. That sounds like a lot more fun to make to me! Of course when icing came to cookie, I discovered how unfashionable I am. I dabbled on a few dress cookies with icing and sanding sugar. The hands down favorite were the soutache stitching orange on orange that are at the head of the blog. Certainly the prettiest, but also the most likely to lead to arthritis. I tossed in a few silver stars, I figured not everyone wanted a big cookie. Who are those people?And since I had a little dough left, I made a few 50th Birthday cookies for my friend who hit her milestone this week. Another fun day in the kitchen. I am hoping to get some savory food made this weekend, man cannot live on sugar alone. But hey, it tastes good, so get in there and bake!