Despite theft of gowns, charity sale will go on
The two wedding dresses were in the shed in Benjamin Noll’s Malibu backyard.
One, a silky pink flapper number, had been worn by his late mother, Isabelle, when she married his father in 1926.
The other, a flowing white satin gown, was worn by his late bride, Marianne, when she told Noll “I do” 36 years ago.
The dresses, sheathed in layers of tissue paper and tucked in their white boxes, went untouched for decades, until Noll roused them on Wednesday for possible reincarnation.
After reading about Sunday’s theft of more than 2,000 wedding dresses en route to a charity sale in Los Angeles, Noll decided to donate them to a cause related to the disease that killed his wife three years ago: breast cancer.
The two dresses are among more than 2,000 that have been donated in the last few days by individuals, bridal salons and national retailers so the Brides Against Breast Cancer charity benefit can still go off as planned this weekend in West Hollywood. The proceeds fund the dying wishes of women with metastasized breast cancer, such as video cameras to record tributes to children, trips to Disneyland with loved ones, computers to join Internet support groups and sewing machines to make gifts for loved ones.
The effort to replace the stolen dresses took off after word spread about the theft early Sunday of the wedding gowns and accessories from a hotel parking lot in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Fran Hansen, co-founder and executive director of the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation that runs the sale, had driven a 40-foot trailer full of gowns and accessories from Washington, D.C., and stopped at the hotel. During the night, the foundation’s pickup and 40-foot-trailer disappeared.
The truck has since been found -- its axle and gearshift broken and navigation system stolen -- but the trailer containing the dresses is still missing. The truck was insured, but the dresses weren’t.
The disappearance sparked a national outpouring of dress donations. TheKnot.com, which caters to brides, sent an e-mail to its designer clients, who offered hundreds of samples and discontinued patterns. David’s Bridal, the national chain, donated 500 dresses; Demetrios of NY donated an additional 500. Several Arizona salons pitched in with about 1,200 dresses. The mother of one salon owner, who donated three dresses, had her dying wish fulfilled by the foundation two years ago: to have her relatives from Italy visit. A truck company loaned two vehicles for transportation, and by Wednesday Hansen once again was on the road with dresses destined for Los Angeles.
More than 500 individuals have donated used dresses, some bringing them to the 10 L.A.-area Curves exercise studios that are collecting them.
Pam Henderson, owner of Camarillo Bridal, was busy Wednesday afternoon packing up two dozen dresses to be delivered to the Hyatt West Hollywood, where the sale starts Friday at 10 a.m. Her aunt died from breast cancer and her best friend is battling the disease, which kills about 41,000 U.S. women annually. Palos Verdes Bridal donated 25 dresses. The foundation has been inundated with calls from “Fullerton to Camarillo to Redondo Beach,” said Suzanne Appel, the charity’s L.A. coordinator.
Most of the dresses donated by retailers are samples or discounted patterns, Appel said.
Henderson said her dresses carried price tags of $300 to $1,200 when in season, but would now sell at discounts of up to 50% in her store.
At the sale, dresses will be priced from $89 to $499, with the newer gowns discounted by at least 50% from list price. Other donated items, such as a $5,000 honeymoon package in Australia, will also be sold.
The foundation holds 32 events around the country every year, with each sale typically attracting 300 to 500 brides. The L.A. sale follows shows in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., that raised about $180,000.
Hansen, who owned a bridal salon, created the foundation in 1998 after twice being diagnosed with breast cancer after mammograms and biopsies. She joined Internet support groups and started to research the disease before learning that her tests had been false positives and that she was cancer-free. But the letters and concerns she read on the support sites saddened her, particularly a posting by one young woman who was heartbroken because she couldn’t buy presents for her children for what probably would be her last Christmas with them.
Though many of the women who apply for the gifts have health insurance, they still face considerable expenses because of lost income, medical co-payments, prescriptions, home healthcare, and non-covered experimental and alternative treatments, Appel said.
The sale runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Hyatt West Hollywood hotel, 8401 Sunset Blvd. For more information, go to www.makingmemories.org.
