After the wake of Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Lynne and Olivia Hein got to work to find new ways to give back to the natural disaster's victims. After connecting with a Houston family, the Hein girls learned more about a need that was not being filled by other groups. Previous donation drives collected cleaning supplies and food products, but one Oak Ridge High School student, Ashley Reel, the Heins connected with told them about the great number of young girls lost a majority of their clothes. And with homecoming around the corner, many Houston high school students were left without dresses for the upcoming dance.
So last September, Lynne and Olivia got to work and started collecting homecoming dresses from Southlake residents for six nearby high schools. In just 16 days, they collected 318 dresses after posting to a few social media pages about their drive. They also gathered bags, shoes and jewelry so girls could create a whole outfit for the big day.
“I have noticed that all my friends have these beautiful dresses for homecoming that they never wear again,” Olivia says. “And it was a humbling experience to see other people who needed these dresses as well. You just need to remind [Southlake residents] that these people need our help.”
After gathering their materials, Lynne and Olivia traveled down to Houston where they participated in Ashley's clothing drive held at a local community center. Olivia was just one of the high school students who dropped off donations and then volunteered in the drive. She would greet girls as they came in and acted as a personal shopper to help them find the right dress.
“It was such a really nice experience to help the girls and talk to all the people affected by the hurricane,” Lynne says. “They had such a huge response that they opened [the drive] up to anyone in the community.”
Because they were able to gather so many resources that could benefit others, and people were still rebuilding from the hurricane, the Heins decided to participate in the dress drive again this year.
Lynne and Olivia are back at work collecting dresses from locals. They are hoping to collect 300 items this year, and are expanding their collection list. This year, locals can also donate pants, shirts, ties and dress shoes on top of their homecoming dresses. These items will be available for a wide range of Houston residents – everyone from high school boys in the foster care program to female cancer patients wanting to do glamour shots.
Both Lynne and Olivia are seeing a huge amount of participation with Lynne saying she received 75 dropped off items in one day alone and Olivia found donated goods at her locker from her classmates.
“I was just thinking that it would be a really nice way for us to come together as a community,” Olivia says. “It's been really amazing to see how much people care.”
To participate in the dress drive, locals can reach out to Lynne at LynneHein@gmail.com. They will be taking in donations until they travel down to Houston in a few weeks to drop off their load, so there’s still time to make a difference.