#ECRCarolCares: What started off as a botched dress turned into a fairytale for Durban matriculant
Who better than Carol Ofori and her team to create a day for a deserving young woman, Shaylene...
As a team, we know that sometimes what starts as a seedling, can grow into something mighty over time.
Most of the time, we rarely know how big it can become. But rest assured that when it grows, it sometimes leaves us in awe of how many people are willing to help with that growth.
What started off as a botched dress callout by Carol Ofori evolved into an inspiring story. Something of a real-life fairytale.
After finding her designer love match - Silomo Ntombela from Silomo Boutique, Carol Ofori made a call out to people in KZN to nominate someone they believed deserved the dress.
Shaylene came out on top after Carol heard her story. Her aunt, Rachel, submitted her story, saying that Shaylene and her brother were taken in by their grandmother after their dad went to prison and their mom became addicted to alcohol.
But she was a budding young matriculant who believed in her future. Therefore the botched dress was turned into her matric dance dress.
And it was like her story was the one that kept giving, with more and more sponsors coming to the forefront to be involved in Shaylene Day (a day dedicated to this wonderful young woman).
Her big day is going to be filled with an array of surprises from sponsors like..
- Makeup from Makeup by Carla Groenewald.
- Hair and nails for Shaylene and her Granny to the value of R2000 from Infinity Hair & Beauty Studio at The Crescent.
- Shoes, clutch bag and jewellery all the to value of R2000 from Bride and Co at The Crescent.
- R1500 Wimpy vouchers from Wimpy The Crescent.
- Courtesy of Stacey and J Sbu, Shaylene will have a room at Suncoast Towers to get ready for her Matric Ball, a photographer for an hour on the day, and J Sbu has offered to DJ for an hour at the Matric Ball.
- R5000 grocery voucher from Spar.
- Pomegranate Florist in Umhlanga has sponsored corsages for the day.
- Manolis at The Crescent has sponsored hampers of snacks and a beautiful set of chef knives.
- La Vita Spa has sponsored facials and pamper sessions for both Shaylene and her Granny, Hessie.
- Transport for the day on 13 December courtesy of CMH Mitsubishi and Proton Pinetown.
- From Invictus Education: Full bursary for 1-year National Certificate in Professional Cookery Traineeship Programme valued at R55 000. Additionally, Invictus Education will sponsor all uniform, textbooks and apparel. Find Invictus Education here: https://www.invictuseducation.co.za/
Today hasn't just been an emotional one, it has certainly been a great day for everyone at East Coast Radio.
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It was the epitome of good progressing to great and fuelling the phrase of 'like attracts like'.
Shaylene is so deserving of these amazing gifts and opportunities and we hope that her story inspires other young women who are living under similar circumstances.
Hope isn't just a four-letter word but also something of a choice. And when you choose to live your life with hope, it has a snowball effect.
All the best to Shaylene and her family, may this be the start of something amazing.
