Princesses enchant for a good cause

A young fan sits with four members of The Fairytale Foundation. From left to right, Abbie Donovan, Lily Conover, Hannah Zacharias, and Stephanie Jordan. Photo by Nathan Conover

An idea was born at the Bay Village Snoball Run this past February when two friends, Stephanie Jordan and Karry O'Brien, both seniors at Bay High School, dressed up as princesses for the event. 

"We got so much attention being dressed up as princesses that we thought, 'we could turn this into something'," Stephanie said.

And turn it into something they did. This past Fourth of July, The Fairytale Foundation (a non-profit organization) was launched when Stephanie and her friends Abbie Donovan, Lily Conover and Hannah Zacharias dressed up as princesses for a good cause. It wasn't accomplished without a little help though.

Stephanie's mother, Karen, helped with the costumes. Between her and Stephanie, the two worked for 130 hours on the elaborate costumes. Lily lent technical support, setting up a website with links to an email address and Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram pages.

On Fourth of July weekend, the young women donned their princess ballgowns and hit the grounds of the Bay Days carnival at Cahoon Memorial Park in Bay Village. They were a huge success. The bedazzled princesses were a hit with carnival goers, especially little girls, and the foundation collected $435 in donations for the Kiwanis Eliminate Project, dedicated to eliminating neonatal tetanus, a disease that kills one baby every nine minutes across the globe.

The Fairytale Foundation's future plans include making "princess appearances" at community events as well as birthday parties to raise money for the Kiwanis and other charities such as Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and others that may come forward down the road. 

If you would like to book the Princesses for a birthday party or would wish to donate, their contact information is located on their website: thefairytalefoundationcle.org.