Flickr user ricklibrarian

The students and parents at St. James Middle School wanted to do something special to raise money for the Special Olympics. With the help of Officer Felix Cruz, parents Kelly Prapotto and Dawn Stark, and many local businesses, they brought out  the bling and technology for a glitzy and successful fundraiser. 

Cruz and Prapotto got together and started to brainstorm a theme and decided that it would be fun to dress the middle schoolers in gowns and tuxes and named the event “The Ritz at St. James”. Katie’s Project quickly stepped in to loan out the gowns.

However, the two had a harder time getting tuxedos for the middle school boys.  Read about that and Grand Strand Happenings interview with Kelly Prapotto regarding "The Ritz at St. James."