Barbie-Party Bound:
How Five Girls Played with Dolls to Make a Difference

When Silverdale Baptist Academy students Cassie Harris, Caitlin Grant, Kayla Bolton, and Lauren Colby received an Eleventh-Grade Leadership Class assignment to create a project that would make an impact in their community, their decision wasn’t hard.

“We knew we wanted to throw a Barbie party,” Cassie remembers. “Five years ago, I had done the same thing with my church, and that was great. Now that we had this assignment, I knew I wanted to do it again. Even my cousin, Kayla Wright, who goes to a different school, wanted to join in.”

The girls knew that by coming together to clean, groom, and dress donated Barbies, they would be helping the Samaritan Center generate revenue for its ministries. In addition, they hoped to pass on the childhood joy that they had experienced when as tots they had danced their own Barbies across the floor.

“Plus, being girls, it was hard to resist the opportunity to play with those dolls again—even if it was just in dressing them up for an evening,” the girls admit.

The goal they set for themselves was to clean up and dress 100 dolls; the mark they hit was 150.

“The night went quickly,” they remember. “We’re talkative, and we told jokes and made it fun.”

When the evening ended, the girls felt both cheerful and fulfilled. “The experience was so special because, rather than just giving money, we actually had to give our time," they reflect. "After all, sometimes the best projects aren’t about spending money or doing something huge or even getting the best grade; they’re just about doing things to make a difference in your community."