Members of the Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority have set up donation boxes around campus to collect dresses for Operation Quinceañera, a charity drive started by the sorority’s San Antonio chapter. Sorority members hope to collect dresses that will be sent to St. PJ’s Home for Neglected and Abused Children in San Antonio

The idea of celebrating growth is a tradition in the lives of many. For girls of Mexican heritage, that growth is usually celebrated by having a quinceañera at age 15, but many of the children at St. PJ’s Home for Neglected and Abused Children in San Antonio, Texas don’t have the opportunity for such important cultural celebrations.

While doing volunteer work for the home, the sisters of Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority’s San Antonio chapter noticed that the girls weren’t properly able to celebrate turning fifteen because none of them had a dress, so sorority members started a fundraiser to collect dresses for the girls at the home.

To get as many dresses as possible, they reached out to chapters of their sorority all over Texas, including the Midwestern State University chapter. Natalie Nduku, the president of the sorority, loved the idea and agreed to help.

“I feel it’s important to do this because every girl deserves the chance to wear a beautiful dress,” Nduku, senior in mathematics, said. “It not only makes them feel important, but it also raises their self-esteem, which will help them later on in life as they face challenges on their own, so I was more than happy to be a part of it.”

There is a box located at the Clark Student Center, the Mustangs for Christ building and the Catholic Campus Center. So far, only five dresses have been donated, and the boxes will be removed on April 4. Any and all dresses are welcome, including homecoming, prom or even traditional quinceañera dresses.

“I think this fundraiser is both amazing and challenging at the same time,” Claudia Mendez, freshman minoring in music, said. “Being a Hispanic girl myself, I know how expensive a quinceañera dress is, and I also know that most girls aren’t willing to give them away so easily, but for those who do it’s awesome.”