MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- In a place not so far, far away, Moody Air Force Base’s Thrift Shop will be home to Cinderella’s Closet, beginning Aug. 23, 2019.
Cinderella’s Closet, which is slated be open year-round on Fridays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., gives Moody’s Airmen, spouses and children an opportunity to find women’s formal wear without breaking the bank.
“Cinderella’s Closet is going to be a place where our spouses, and even children, can borrow dresses for formal events such as the Air Force Ball, [Airman Leadership School] graduations, award ceremonies, prom and homecoming,” said Sunny Stumpe, spouse of Col. Brian Stumpe, 23d Mission Support Group Commander. “Whatever they need, we're going to let them come in and try on dresses and have a fun experience.”
While Cinderella’s Closet is available to anyone with a valid military ID, the focus is on providing spouses and children an opportunity to attend formal Air Force events with their sponsors.
“There's a lot of spouses that don't attend events because they can't afford to get a dress that they're going to feel comfortable in,” Stumpe said. “I think having this available in a town where it’s not necessarily easy to find formal wear [is beneficial]. They can come here, take a look, and hopefully find something they like. It takes the stress off of having to go downtown and try on dresses at three different stores.”
The process is simple; anyone interested in borrowing formal wear can stop by the Thrift Shop during the Closet’s hours and pick the items they would like to borrow. After the event, customers are asked to have the items dry-cleaned before returning. In the interest of removing financial burdens where possible, a local dry cleaner has agreed to clean the dresses for $10 – about half off the regular price.
“Our hope is [that] this will take some financial strain off of young families,” Stumpe said. “They get invited to these events and the active duty member has a uniform, but the spouse has to go spend $200 or $300 on a gown to wear to the event. ”
Cinderella’s Closet currently has over 100 dresses in its inventory, but board members are hoping to receive more donations of dresses, shoes and accessories so they can provide plenty of options for events throughout the year.
“We’re taking donations all the time, and we will continue to take donations,” Stumpe said. “They can drop them off at the thrift shop during our store hours, Valdosta Dry Cleaners or Synovus Banks.”
For more information, please contact the Moody Thrift Shop at (229) 257-3965.