During the fall, junior Megan Kuharich, and sophomores Lexi Kuharich and Maddie Beal started a charity group called The Dream Team. The group kicked off its event “Couture for a Cure” this past weekend by renting gently used formal dresses for the Sweetheart Dance, and raising the money to go to Braden and Deliece Hofen in their fight against cancer.

“Maddie and I were on our way to Omaha for a volleyball tournament and my mom was saying how we should get our old dresses that we never wear anymore and sell them,” Lexi said. “So that’s when we got the idea of collecting other people’s dresses and selling them.”

The Dream Team began collecting dresses a few weeks ago, so shoppers could come down to the Kuharich’s basement and try them on. The initials of the person who donated the dress are written on the inside, and these initials, along with the size and a description of the dress, are written down when someone rents a dress. The buyer pays $30 to rent the dress for the dance, then it is returned to the owner two weeks after Sweetheart.

In total, the girls collected more than 70 dresses and are still accepting more donations. They’ve already raised more than $400 and will still be open for sales this weekend, Jan. 29 and 30.

“Everyone should at least give the dresses we have a chance before they go out and buy one from the store,” Lexi said.

Megan said she was a little nervous about how the sales would go once they had received dress donations.

“It’s definitely going better than we thought it would,” Megan said. “At first I was a little hesitant. I was kind of thinking ‘I really hope that people actually come.’ But then some of my friends from [Blue Valley] Northwest came and things started moving.”

The Kuharichs said they strongly encourage high school girls to consider renting a dress from them because the money goes to a great cause.

“Realistically, you’re only going to wear the dress like one time,” Megan said. “It seems like a waste to spend around $150 on a dress when you could spend $30 and the money goes to a boy with cancer.”

The Dream Team plans to present the money to the Hofens at Braden’s Race for Life and Miracle Mile in April.

“Every year the money will be for a different person — really just whoever needs it the most,” Megan said. “We heard Braden and Deliece’s story and they were the perfect candidates.”

Megan said anyone interested in helping out their community should stay motivated for their cause when challenges present themselves.

“If you want to do something to help, you’ve got to go full throttle and do it whole heartedly,” she said. “There will always be kinks in the plan but you can work past them.”

Anyone interested in donating or renting a dress should contact Megan Kuharich at (913) 832-4948.