In an act of continued resilience, local charity Formally Ever After swiftly rebuilt after a devastating fire tore through their Kingston storage shed
Charity founder Tammy Robinson-Heynatz, who spends much of her free time fitting local students with free formal wear, lost six-weeks’ worth of donations in a Storage King fire in late June.
Since then, several donation drop-off spots across the city have been inundated with formal dress and suit donations from locals eager to help Ms Robinson-Heynatz rebuild.
The charity’s new storage unit is already full to the brim with fresh donations.
“We have been absolutely smashed with donations, my biggest problem now is we need a bigger storage shed,” Ms Robinson-Heynatz said.
“It feels amazing, like a huge hug from the community.
“It really shows me how big the impact of Formally Ever After is on our communities.”
She said the unit fire could have spelt the end for the charity.
“But as many tell me, we’ve risen like a phoenix, we are coming back bigger, stronger and better,” she said.
“We’ve already had two school groups in plus about 20 individuals.”
Ms Robinson-Heynatz has moved to a new storage shed at Beenleigh, but said she already needed a larger space.
“The first day there when I saw our empty unit broke my heart a little, but now today we are up to 90-plus tubs,” she said.
Since the charity started, Ms Robinson-Heynatz has operated out of her Kingston home, which she was due to move out of the week of the fire.
Her and her family have since moved to Beenleigh, where the program is now run.
“The charity is again the downstairs of the property we rent, but we are putting it out there to manifest a nice spot somewhere local we can run the program from, as I think it’s outgrowing our home,” she said.
“So if anyone knows anyone, I’m keen to be connected.”
Formally Ever After gifts free formal dresses and suits to students across the country who cannot afford to buy clothes to attend their school formal.
A fashion show and high tea fundraiser was held over the weekend to raise funds and donations for the charity.
Tickets sold out in days.
