“Teen makes sure all girls can look great for prom” – Golden Rule Moments article published

Teen makes sure all girls can look great for prom

The high school prom is one of the biggest moments in the lives of most girls. But what do you do when the nearest dress store is two hours away? Or what do you do if you cannot afford a dress for your teenage daughter to go to the prom or homecoming?

If you live in Bagdad, Arizona, you just simply go to Savannah’s Closet.

Here’s how it all began: Late one night, 13-year-old Savannah LaFon was thinking about the girls in her school who could not afford a dress for the coming prom. She had noticed girls going online and asking if anyone had a dress their size. A Golden Rule Moment happened. She went to her mom and asked her, “Would it be OK if I loaned out my dresses that I have in my closet to the girls in my school who are my size?” That conversation and only a few dresses started a journey for Savannah.

Today, Savannah is 16 and Savannah’s Closet has over 400 dresses, shoes and jewelry that any girl in Bagdad can have access to for her special event.

Wondering if one of them might fit you? The sizes range from 2 to XXXL. If it doesn’t fit, mother and daughter alter them so they are the perfect fit. All of this is free of charge, of course.

Savannah has never taken any cash donations for her enterprise, only dresses, shoes and jewelry. Only half of the 400 dresses have been donated; the rest have been bought by Savannah and her mother.

One extra special moment for Savannah and Savannah’s Closet was when they were able to outfit a girl to attend a Tim Tebow event in Phoenix.

It truly was a Golden Rule Moment all over again for Savannah and her mom, and it no doubt planted a Golden Rule seed that will continue to bless the recipient of the dress too. Savannah’s Closet outgrew her real closet a long time ago. For the past few years, they have housed them in a shed in their backyard.

However, just recently Savannah and her family purchased a trailer so they can take Savannah’s Closet to wherever it needs to go. It’s a boutique on wheels where girls can try on the dresses and have them altered right there on the spot.

Next year, Savannah’s Closet will travel to Prescott, where girls who will be participating in a special-needs prom can find a dress and accessories to make them the best-dressed girls at the dance.

Savannah’s dream is to make Savannah’s Closet a nationwide reality where girls from small towns and small incomes can feel pride as they go to their prom or homecoming event dressed in one of Savannah’s Closet dresses.

But Savannah’s Closet is only one of the many things Savannah likes to do in her hometown of Bagdad. Savannah has baby goats she takes to the community nursing home, which brings cheers and shouts of joy to those who are able to interact with them.

She and her mother also run the food bank in Bagdad, holding food drives and making sure the people of Bagdad and Wikieup don’t go hungry.

So what is Savannah’s next project? She is working toward becoming Miss America’s Outstanding Teen by raising funds for sick and injured children through Children’s Miracle Hospital Network. She is deserving, and certainly qualifies to be Miss Bagdad’s Outstanding Teen. Arizona Interfaith Movement isn’t the only one sending congrats and shout-outs of praise. Pat McMahon recently interviewed her on the “Daily Mix.”

Hear Savannah tell her story in her AZTV7 Interview, at www.aztv.com/azdaily- mix/golden-rule-student-of-themonth.

The Rev. Larry Fultz is executive director of the Arizona Interfaith Movement.Savannah