More Than A Dress: Meet Our Top Two Teams of 2020

 

The concept of dressing up every day of December in protest of human trafficking may seem a novel one. After all, you might ask yourself, what can a dress do? Dressember’s top two teams and their leaders are here to tell you just how far a couple of dresses can go.

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Team Freedom Fashion raised more than $104,000 in support of Dressember and its partnered organizations in our most recent campaign. I had the pleasure of hearing from its leader, Jocelyn White, whose confidence behind Dressember’s mission and commitment to combatting human trafficking permeates her every statement. Director of Strategic Partnerships at the International Justice Mission, Jocelyn first heard of the Dressember Style Challenge through her job. In a show of solidarity with the many impoverished and vulnerable women and girls in the developing world, Jocelyn styled a single dress for all thirty-one days of the challenge her first year. “I figured,” Jocelyn shared, “If I could do Dressember with one dress, then I can no longer use the “I don’t have, or like wearing dresses” excuse anymore.”

It had been lonely work in the beginning. After two years of doing Dressember on her own, Jocelyn had been tempted to stop: “I was feeling a bit lonely and hopeless, like I reached the cap of what I could do for Dressember. I told myself I would invite people to join me, and if two people said, ‘yes,’ I’d do it again as a team. Well, seven said yes, and Team Freedom Fashion was birthed. Doing Dressember year after year can be challenging because you question whether, or not, your friends and family are still interested in supporting your ‘little campaign.’ However, when you are part of a team, it’s a whole different ball game.” After six years of advocacy for Dressember, Jocelyn has learned that taking the time to personally invite colleagues, friends, and family members to participate does more to build her team than a mass email could. 

Jocelyn knows she can’t do everything. However, wearing a dress for a month, sharing information about the realities of human trafficking and empowering people to join the fight is something that can make all the difference for the future of survivors and their communities. “Dressember is a decision to advocate for the vulnerable, abused and exploited despite all your fears and anxieties about having a successful campaign. You are saying, [survivors’] freedom far outweighs my fears.”

When asked what Freedom Fashion’s goals are moving forward, Jocelyn had one thing to say — Keep fighting this fight until it is won!

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Equally passionate, RuthAnn Deveney of team 115 to Thrive – whose members span four countries and collectively raised more than $109,000 in our latest campaign – joined the challenge in 2014. “Personally, I appreciate the concept that small things add up to big impact,” RuthAnn told me. “The first year that I participated, I was stunned at how generous people were, and not so much in dollar amounts, but that so many people were willing to throw their support behind a cause I believed in, partially because they believed in ME.”

More than anything, RuthAnn emphasizes the importance of awareness, education and community consciousness surrounding human trafficking. “Everything counts, no matter how small it feels. Every conversation, every piece of information shared, every donation — no matter the size — adds up to raise awareness.” When asked what she wants everyone to know about Dressember, RuthAnn further elaborated, “Advocacy is not only about raising money. At the end of the day, any funds raised can be a great, tangible milestone, but being an advocate just means using your voice. You can do that for free!”

RuthAnn finds the most rewarding aspect of Dressember to be the opportunity to enable others to become advocates, find their voices and make a difference. But I was curious — what about people who want to try participating in Dressember but don’t know how to start? To this, RuthAnn has five questions prospective advocates should ask themselves — Why do you want to be a Dressember advocate?; What do you hope to learn or take away from the experience?; What kind of fashion challenge do you want to pose for yourself?; What kind of fundraising goal would you want to shoot for?; How do you hope to connect with others about Dressember? For RuthAnn and for 115 to Thrive, any effort made is fuel for the fire. 

No two teams advocate in the same way. However, if there’s one thing Freedom Fashion and 115 to Thrive can show us, it’s that change starts with you. Become an advocate today.


 

About the Author

 
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Mckayla Yoo is a proud resident of the Jersey Shore getting her History and English degrees in Massachusetts. A lover of slow fashion, she believes in conscious consumer choices and the five R's. In her free time, you can find her researching cold case mysteries and perfecting the art of iced coffee.

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