Community steps up with Gowns for Grads donations

A stolen trailer full of formal wear triggered a huge outpouring of community support Saturday at CBC Calgary.

Louise Higginbottom, an organizer of the Gowns for Grads program, said a trailerpacked with over 500 gowns and 100 suits, along with shoes and jewlery, was stolen outside her home in Elnora, Alta.

The theft occurred last weekend.

Gowns for Grads is a program that travels to communities across Alberta, providing free dresses and suits for Grade 12 students. The stolen donations represented years of inventory that had been collected for students who might be facing financial stress.

"It's kind of life-changing, because without us a lot of these students wouldn't be attending their grad," Higginbottom said Wednesday while on CBC Radio's Calgary Eyeopener.

LISTEN | Gowns for Grads theft:

Calgary Eyeopener9:46Gowns for Grads theft

We hear about a small-town theft of hundreds of gowns meant to be donated to graduating high school students. We speak with one of the organizers of Gowns for Grads.

After hearing her story, CBC Calgary decided to hold a donation drive in support of Gowns for Grads.

Eyeopener co-host Angela Knight assembled her team of "Do Crew" volunteers and put the word out that formal wear for teens in need would be collected at the station on Saturday.

Knight said the reaction was incredible.

"It was chaos," she said, after the final donation had been delivered. "The best kind of chaos."

"We had no idea what was going to happen, but as always, Calgary came through. And not just Calgary, we had folks from Cochrane, Airdrieall over."

Jena Hall of Calgary was one of the people who stopped by to make a donation. She dropped off several dresses and a couple of suits, including one that was custom-made for her husband when he was a little younger.

"It's a little snug on him now," she said.

Hall said it feels great to help out.

"Imagining someone else wearing them made me really happy."

Hockey team pitches in

Charles Leskun of Calgary said as soon as he heard about the theft, he put the call out to members of his hockey team Crowchild Over-55 Blue2 to pitch in.

"I put it out to the guys on Thursday, and by Friday we assembled maybe 30 suits, dresses, about 50 ties," Leskun said.

He said that, despite the fact a lot of his teammates are ex-teachers, there are still some pretty cool things in the pile he dropped off.

"There are a few Marvel ties, along with a Grateful Dead tie," he said.

In all, 662 dresses, 218 suits including a couple of full tuxedos 114 pairs of shoes and numerous accessories were donated.

Do Crew member Judy Boyes was one of the volunteers receiving donations Saturday. She said one woman in particular stood out for her.

"This one woman brought up a beautiful burgundy dress and she was kind of crying, and she said, 'I really hope somebody gets as much joy out of this as I did when I wore it,'" said Boyes.

She said the outpouring of support she and the other volunteers saw on Saturday had them smiling all day.

"I feel great. This is amazing. This is Calgary."