I’d like to acquaint you with the memory of my 17 year old daughter, Marissa McLeod, who had been a student at Ripon High School in Ripon, California. Marissa was an extremely bright, talented, and popular student who excelled academically while also staying highly involved in sports and other school activities. She embodied the spirit of community service and had genuine concern for others. She acted on her ideals by developing and implementing programs for those in need. Marissa’s future was looking exceptionally bright as she prepared for a career in law. Despite her extraordinary talent and promising future Marissa suddenly and tragically took her own life on December 1, 2009.
In the Spring of 2009, after learning that one of her friends would not be able to attend prom because her family was unable to afford a dress, Marissa came up with the idea to start a collection of dresses knowing there were other girls out there in the same situation. Marissa collected 250 dresses and distributed over 200! In January of this year I realized I needed to keep Marissa’s memory alive and came up with the idea of Marissa’s Closet. To date, we have collected over 2500 dresses and given away over 1500. We have also partnered with other organizations and have donated over 1000 dresses to third world countries to help women learn to provide for themselves and their children.
Marissa’s Closet has been a part of many special events, we were partners in hosting the first annual special needs prom in Northern California, as well as helping provide dresses for Camp Taylor a camp that specializes in helping children with heart disease or who have had to endure heart transplants. We have sponsored a young girl who was a part of the teen rape program of San Joaquin county who was participating in a pageant as part of her rehabilitation (she won the pageant!) We have also sent dresses to many states to people who have emailed asking for help. Recently we sent dresses to Wisconsin to help abused teens trying to have a normal life partake in their first formal event.
Our Mission
Changing Lives One Dress At A Time
Click here to add text.Contact Us:
Phone: (209)613-0836
