New Life Narconon Gets Involved in Cinderella Project

Nearly every high school student looks forward to prom night, but not every one of them gets to go to the big dance. All too many juniors and seniors have to sit out prom night for the simple reason that they can’t afford it. Prom is, to put it bluntly, expensive. From the cost of a ticket, to paying for a dress or tuxedo, alterations to the garments, shoes, jewelry, nails and hair, a corsage or boutonniere, dinner for two, and transportation in a limousine, a typical prom night can easily end up costing a teenager anywhere from a few hundred to well over a thousand dollars.

Even if the young person doesn’t go all-out for the most extravagant prom night, it can still be prohibitively expensive, especially for the girl who has to find a way to pay for the dress that is just right for what may be one of the most memorable nights of her life. Unfortunately, many girls have no other choice than to skip prom night because they just don’t have any way to afford the expenses. But even for some of these, there may be a way to make their dream come true.

The Cinderella Project is an organized activity which has a goal of providing disadvantaged girls with nice dresses that they can wear to the prom when the time comes for them. It is in operation in several areas around the country, including in Louisiana where volunteers from the Narconon New Life Retreat in Denham Springs have for the past several years showed up to help out. The volunteers assisted in preparing dresses that had been donated to the group for the purpose of distributing them to young women who were getting the opportunity to receive a dress that would make it possible for them to go to prom after all.

Much like the character Cinderella, these girls were in the position of watching everyone else get ready for the ball, and without the generous donations and volunteer work performed through the Cinderella project, they would have been left at home on prom night. This itself is a worthy result for the work of everyone involved in the charity, but helping young women get dressed up to enjoy their own night at the ball is not actually the only goal of the Cinderella Project.

The Cinderella Project: It’s Not Just About the Dress

Beyond the initial purpose of the Cinderella Project is also a set of goals that are all aimed at helping at-risk young women to develop skills and confidence that will carry them stably into adulthood. There is a focus on helping the girls complete their education, and providing them with the support that they may need along this line. There are plenty of challenges for a woman trying to make it in the world, and this is especially true for those who come from backgrounds of poverty.

Substance abuse, illiteracy, domestic violence and similar conditions go hand-in-hand, and part of what the Cinderella Project is doing is to try to break the cycle that keeps too many women poor and at risk. These goals dovetail with the purposes of Narconon, particularly in terms of helping young women get the education and guidance that will help them make better choices in life and avoid drug and alcohol abuse.

“In our experience, young women who develop self-esteem and are encouraged to make healthy decisions, have significantly fewer problems with drug addiction,” says Narconon New Life Retreat Facility Administrator Kelley Keeny. “Assisting The Cinderella Project to fulfill those goals in our local area, makes complete sense for our treatment program.”