PERSON OF INTEREST
PEO PLE
Cheryl Cole Sumter’s own fairy godmother makes special occasions magical for local women and teens in need. INTERVIEWER: ROXANNE BROWN
≈ PHOTO: NICOLE HAMEL
L V I TA AT S ST
• Family includes three kids, six grandkids, and five great grands. • Enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, the beach, shopping, and watching Florida Gator softball and football.
• Lives in Bushnell. • Employed by the Sumter County School Board – currently as a professional learning technician – and the State of Florida for 32 years.
Tell me about Cinderella’s Closet of Central Florida and Cinderella’s Bridal Blessings? A friend at church told me I should start a Cinderella’s Closet ministry. I found out there is a national headquarters in Kentucky and that you could become a part of their national ministry. I spoke with my pastor and Cinderella’s Closet of Central Florida, a ministry of the First Baptist Church of Wildwood, was born in March 2015. In December of 2020, Cinderella’s Bridal Blessings came about after a building was donated to house some wedding gowns we had at the closet to make room for the 2021 prom event. Four days later, a bridal shop called and asked if I wanted $50,000 worth of new wedding gowns to give away. I knew right away that was God wanting me to enlarge my territory and I said yes!
by giving them the wedding gown of their dreams.
Favorite food? My grandmother’s coconut cake and my mom’s homemade biscuits.
Your mission? We want every girl to
What part of the experience your ministry creates touches you most?
feel like Cinderella for their high school prom without looking at a price tag or worrying about the financial burden to their parents. We want to do the same thing for young women getting married
When I watch the girls see themselves in the mirror and they smile and begin to cry because they feel so beautiful. We all cry with them, hug them, and tell them how beautiful they are.
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How can people help? We take donations of new or gently used prom dresses (five years or newer) and wedding dresses, and always appreciate monetary donations to purchase the size gowns we do not have enough of. Name a person you admire greatly and why? My mother. She was a Christian lady who loved unconditionally.
Guilty pleasure? Buying fresh flowers, especially sunflowers and roses, for myself. If you could choose anyone, who would you have dinner with? My mom and dad. My mom passed in 2013 and my dad in 1984. I miss them.
Email your recommendation to roxanne@akersmediagroup.com
