Pair share Volunteer of Year honors
Two Kyrene Corridor women will share this year’s East Valley Volunteer of the Year Award, sponsored by Tempe Community Council.
The winners are Cheryl Hornyan and Gloria Fox, driving forces behind the Cinderella Affair which helps high school students from across the entire Valley attend their high school proms while also reducing their out-of-pocket expenses.
Both women have daughters who inspired them to conceive, plan and implement the “gently used” formal-wear collection and distribution program that has served more than 320 high school students so far.
In just two years, they have collected more than 1,500 formal dresses along with accessories to completely outfit the participants, even securing a few tuxedos with hopes of expanding the program’s reach to young men in the future.
Just as important, say the award’s judges, Hornyan and Fox created a “boutique” setting at Pyle Adult Recreation Center in Tempe, where both adult and youth volunteers serve as “personal shoppers” for the students, helping each to select the perfect gown with all of the appropriate accessories.
Senior volunteers from the Needle Wielders Sewing Club perform immediate on-site alterations so each student achieves the exact fit for her entire ensemble.
The impact of Hornyan’s and Fox’s work can best be described in a heartfelt thank you note from the mother of one of the student participants who wrote:
“My daughter truly felt like Cinderella in a “once-in-a-lifetime type of dress that all girls should have.”In addition to the Cinderella Affair, both women are involved in many other community projects and organizations.
Hornyan is a member of the Tempe Rotary Club, the National Charity League, the Kyrene Middle School Site Council and is a founding member of the East Valley National Charity League.
