Dress Sale Raises $17K to Help Omaha Area Families

OMAHA, Neb. — Max I. Walker Cleaners’ 10th Annual Ultra Chic Boutique dress sale, to raise funds for families in need, took place Jan. 28 here at the Design Center. The event took in over $17,000 in just six hours for the Open Door Mission’s Lydia House, the company reports.

“We as a company are proud of our community and their efforts to support the Ultra Chic Boutique year after year,” says Lisa Walker Sekundiak, who is vice president of Max I. Walker and founder of the Ultra Chic Boutique. “Being a 100-year-old company, it’s been in our blood to want to give back, and we’re so happy to have found something that speaks not only to us but to our community.”

Dress donations were accepted across the Omaha metro area at all 23 Max I. Walker locations. Employees cleaned, pressed and mended over 3,000 donated dresses at no charge, the company says. Hundreds of ladies shopped, and volunteers donated their time to make a special day happen.

Proceeds go directly for food and care for women and children in the Lydia House emergency service program, Walker says.

The Open Door Mission provides a safe community for individuals and families that inspires hope for lasting change. Lydia House meets the basic needs of the homeless.

On a daily basis, the Open Door Mission provides 816 safe shelter beds for homeless men, women and children; serves more than 2,100 hot nutritious meals to the hungry; and empowers more than 275 needy families through prevention programs, Max I. Walker says.

“The Ultra Chic Boutique has experienced 10 years of success,” says Sekundiak, “and we’re humbled by the impact of our philanthropic efforts.”

What started in 2007 with a few hundred donated dresses has evolved into the Ultra Chic Boutique event, which includes fashion shows, vendors, thousands of formal gowns, and The Dress Flip design competition.

“This brings us to a total of $145,000 donated to the Lydia House over the last 10 years,” the company reports.

Max I. Walker Cleaners was founded in March 1917, and has grown over the years from a small route business to a company with hundreds of employees.

Women throughout the Omaha community volunteer to model dresses at the Ultra Chic Boutique. Attendees could enter a raffle to purchase the gowns. (Photos: Max I. Walker Cleaners)

A woman looks through some of the 3,000 dresses donated to Max I. Walker for the Ultra Chic Boutique event.

The Ultra Chic Boutique volunteers worked hard throughout the event to run dressing rooms and keep the gowns organized for shoppers.

Hundreds of women lined up hours before the event, waiting to get first pick of the huge selection of dresses for their special occasion.

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].