Thumbs Up

It is always refreshing to see young people step up early and delve into public service. In today’s society, where self often trumps sacrifice, it’s laudable when people of any age see a need and then take the initiative to meet it.

That’s why we wholeheartedly applaud Hannah Wilson, Midway High senior and reigning Miss Midway, for recognizing a need among her peers and setting out to do something about it. It’s also why we are encouraging those who can to assist Wilson in this endeavor.

Wilson is holding a prom dress and accessories drive this weekend, with the goal of collecting dresses, shoes, earrings — things girls need to make their prom attire special — for young girls who want to attend the spring dance but who may be unable to afford the clothing to make the night the special event it is for so many young ladies.

For Wilson, it’s about making the night special for every girl who wants to attend the prom. Their financial ability, she explained in a Saturday Independent story, should not matter.

In many cases, it does. For high school girls, the prom is a right of passage, a fun evening and an important part of their teenage years. Unfortunately, there are many young ladies who simply don’t have the financial means to purchase the kind of clothing and accessories that many of their peers do, oftentimes stopping them from attending the spring dance.

Wilson’s drive is aimed at eliminating the roadblock that prevents many of these young girls from attending.

This Saturday, at Shady Grove OFWB Church, U.S. Highway 13 near Spivey’s Corner, Wilson will be accepting donations of dresses, shoes and accessories. We hope mothers and their daughters will join to search their closets, pull out their past prom attire, dust it off and deliver it to the church. In many cases, those outfits have been worn once, maybe twice, and chances are they won’t be worn again.

Dresses hanging in a closet gathering dust do little good, but imagine the smiles of joy they can bring to someone who would like to attend this year’s prom but can’t.

With that in mind, we urge ladies across our county to team up with their daughters and serve in a unique way.

Helping Wilson with this initiative can benefit so many.

We offer her a thumbs up for coming up with a great project, and we offer a thumbs up to every single person who steps out, comes out and offers a donation to this worthwhile cause.