Real-life can be better than a fairytale, especially when a group of friends get together to make little girls feel like princesses on a special day.

One Central New York woman who was only trying to buy one little girl a dress a few months ago has ended up helping hundreds, and it’s all for free.

What You Need To Know

  • Some local fairy godmothers are providing princess dresses for free to children in need

  • The ensemble includes shoes and a tiara

  • Community partners have stepped up to offer princess character experiences, hair styling, cakes and cupcakes

Once upon a time, there were thousands of little girls who wanted to look like a princess.

Kym Servello Gardner, founder of Princess Party CNY, says to a princess as they hug, “You look beautiful. You look like a princess!”

Gardner is leading a community of people wanting to make those wishes come true.

“I saw a mom request a dress for her daughter on a pay-it-forward Facebook page and I just thought, there’s gotta be more girls out there. We had no idea how many,” said Gardner. “Our first request was a burn victim that had just gotten out of the hospital after a few months. I have two friends that are doing this with me, so we each started out putting in money to buy a bunch of dresses and then we just started advertising on Facebook. It went to our friends and just started to blow up. There’s racks all over the house. I swear it’s like Christmas. My poor mailman says, he told me Christmas is over, because I get so many.”

Every princess needs a crown. So when her tiara supply was running low, Gardner mentioned it on social media and once again, the community overwhelmed her.

“That’s how people come through for us,” said Gardner, showing off boxes of crowns.

Now Gardner is getting community support to add to the princess experience. Bakers, theme characters and more are offering to help.

Gina DelGiorno is the owner and creator of specialty baked goods at "Baker Me A Cake." She reached out to help.

“I loved the idea. And I had reached out and said, if you guys ever want to offer birthday cakes or cupcakes or something, I would be more willing. I have three little girls and every little girl has one day that’s just about them, and who doesn’t love cake?” said DelGiorno.

This growing group of fairy godmothers is helping families with health issues like Alayna.

“My daughter has a pulmonary disease she has a natural blockage in her airway. Basically, whenever she gets sick, she gets pneumonia and she gets hospitalized,” explained Kathleen Hutchinson, Alayna’s mother.

Alayna, one of the hundreds of Party Princesses says, “I was excited.”

If you know a child in need or if you would like to become a fairy godmother to Party Princesses, there are several ways you can help:

  • Donate via Venmo @kym-servello, or via PayPal by emailing kymser727@gmail.com
  • Contact Kym Gardner at PartyPrincessesCNY@gmail.com or by calling 315-391-0326
  • Send donation items to Kym Garnder at 1804 Butternut Street, Syracuse NY 13208

To request a dress, Gardner says you must Facebook message her personally, rather than just joining the public Facebook group so she can get the necessary information from you directly.