Volunteers: Dresses Needed for Marine Wives

Newport Beach resident Susan Epp has left a donation box at her doorstep for the last two weeks,  hoping every day to find more dresses inside.

"This has all been word of mouth so far," Epp said. "I'm so glad we are able to help."

Epp is talking about a dress fundraiser she is coordinating with friend Michelle Rhodes and members of the military support ministry at Mariners Church in Irvine. The group has been supporting the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment from Camp Pendleton—which is scheduled to return from a seven-month deployment in Hemland Province, Afghanistan—through attending their deployments, sending care packages, saying prayers and now by collecting dresses.  

"Twenty-four men were lost in two months and hundreds more were wounded," Epp said. "We're talking very serious injuries. And the ones who return, they really have so little and some of the couples are very, very young."

In honor of their homecoming, the Marines and their spouses will be attending a ball in June in Las Vegas. In order to make sure the wives have something beautiful to wear, the women are asking for the community's continued support.

"It's a little thing that we can do for them to support them and thank them for all the sacrifice," Rhodes said. "And the wives have been so grateful. They can't believe a total stranger would do this for them."

As of Tuesday, about 60 dresses have been donated, but many more are needed.

"There are about 1,200 Marines in that company, so people have been forwarding our emails asking for donations from other people they know and we have received a good amount," Epp said. "We are very happy and blessed to be able to help them and we hope to get more donations." 

If you are interested in donating a dress, all sizes, styles and colors are being accepted. On Saturday the dresses will be taken so the military wives can try them on, but donations will continue to be accepted for a few more weeks. To schedule a donation, email susanepp@cox.net.