She’s the fabric of her community.
A Long Island teen has established a one-stop shop offering her female classmates a free professional clothing wardrobe and is getting local women to look sharp during job interviews, all out of the goodness of her heart.
“I love helping people, and it’s nice to see how they feel once they are being helped, and how confident they get,” Smithtown West senior Alexandra DeDonato told The Post.
“I realized that it was like a lot of work to help others, but it’s worth it.”
DeDonato brought the concept of loaning out free clothes to those in need to her school after working over the summer at Brookhaven’s chapter of Dress For Success, which provides unemployed women with proper attire as they prepare to re-enter the workforce.
“It actually felt like I was helping people, especially seeing it in person,” she said, adding, “so many women came up to say thank you.”
DeDonato, a Girl Scout since first grade, then brought the idea of a “career closet” to her school for her Gold Award project, the Scouts’ highest achievable honor.
Troop 2479’s standout approached friends, family, and locals to donate their professional garments and ran a clothing drive a few weeks ago.
She acquired over 100 items, including nice blouses, suit jackets, and blazers for girls at her school.
“People were very eager to help,” said DeDonato, a varsity volleyball player who is also involved in the National Honor Society.
They are kept neatly hanging in a closet near administrative offices in the middle of the campus and have been used by students who need something sophisticated on short notice, such as for a sudden job interview or academic function.
It’s getting regular use from students in DECA, a nationwide entrepreneurship club of which DeDonato is involved. Fellow DECA teens who are rehearsing for job interviews after school hours commonly borrow suits or blazers for their mock interviews to practice dressing the part.
The Girl Scouts require 85 hours of public service for the Gold Award, but DeDonato happily put in over 100 hours throughout the fall semester for her personal project runway.
She ended up taking away something invaluable from the experience.
“I think it definitely boosted my confidence,” she said. “That’s from seeing others get their confidence levels up because it made them happy. So that made me happy.”
The most rewarding moment came when DeDonato saw first hand the impact she made by inspiring change.
A close friend ended up joining the Girl Scouts — solely to launch her own community-oriented project.
“It felt good that other people were noticing what was happening,” said DeDonato, who will be given the Gold Award in May.
“Hopefully, that will influence them to do something that helps others, too.”
DeDonato wrote about the project, which she titled “Empowering Women From The Inside Out,” in her college essay and said running the donations “made me figure out what I want to do in life.”
“I want to be a teacher and help elementary students start to figure out what they want to do in life,” she said,
“And have them dress well,” DeDonato joked.