It’s All About the Girls

Student Ariel and Anne making centerpiece baskets

Ask any volunteer why they chose Excelsior and they’ll say: “It’s the girls. It’s all about the girls.”

Yes, our Excelsior girls capture your hearts, emotions, interest and trigger the ‘how can I help’ instinct.

While decorating center piece baskets for Excelsior’s gala recently along side several of our Excelsior girls, Anne Fanganello, laughed while burning her fingers with the glue guns. “I just love these girls … their energy, creativity, excitement for the project. I’m ready to volunteer with these girls on a regular basis.”

Originally from Denver, she studied in Italy and spent eighteen years in New York City in the fashion industry. As she pursued her dreams of being a fashion designer, she found a higher calling in technical design, management and operations. As Nanette Lepore’s “right hand man” and COO of Zac Posen, she collaborated to produce not only beautiful clothing but also over-the-top theatrical runway shows and glamorous retail stores. She has returned to her hometown to help manage the Denver division of WM Events. Anne is driven to take the event puzzle and snap each piece into its precise place. She has surrounded her life with color, texture, music, timing and schedules, striving for perfection to create a flawless event.

Once introduced to Excelsior’s mission last February, Fanganello volunteered with the committee as she added pizzaz, sparkle and a unique touch to our recent annual gala, Ever Upward: Love & Laughter. She’s the one who thought of asking the girls to decorate white baskets with gorgeous ribbon and decorative trims she generated donations from the NYC fashion houses such as Nannette Lapore. Working along side the girls while laughing and creating, Fanganello saw an opportunity to give back: volunteering with the girls on a regular schedule. Soon she will explore a variety of volunteer options by working with Excelsior’s Volunteer Coordinator, Marisa Escobedo. She’ll attend Volunteer Orientation sessions and then see where her skills fit in.

Hundreds of community volunteers serve Excelsior annually in a variety of unique and special ways. If you want to join them, please contact Marisa Escobedo at Marisae@excelsioryc.org or 303-693-1550x311.

Anne says: “Working with Excelsior girls was an experience that will be close to my heart forever. I was not aware of what they did and thought that I was entering their "brochure" world of smiling, happy girls who loved life. Instead, I was thrust into a world of girls who had struggled their whole lives and were trying to break through thick walls of trauma, depression, and a need for love. As I walked through the doors I took up my hammer and chisel and tentatively began to tap away at those walls.”

“When I was first introduced to the girls it was an assault to my senses. I was scared, impressed, confused and intrigued by these young girls' personalities and their power to push me away. We had come up with the idea to have the girls produce baskets with ribbons, flowers, and bows to be used as table centerpieces but suddenly, I was fearful as I envisioned these girls with scissors and pieces of rope and glue guns.

I walked into the classroom prepared to be teacher, leader, and a kind face. But, there was that wall. I was not going to be able to break through. As the girls arrived they were uncomfortable with the new face, a different project and knowledge of humanity that equals anger and unhappiness. I took my fear and turned it into strength and power while theirs came out as strength and resistance.”

“As we began our project they turned into young girls excited with the ribbons and bows and I softened to my typical happy, smiling demeanor. By the time we were done we were all friends. As I left they held up their beautiful baskets saying, "Look what I did!" They were proud of themselves and the final product was amazing. Our sledgehammers had made the final brick fall to the side as the girls and I met with no walls left between us.”

Click here to see WM Events website

Top Left: Anne Fanganello (WM Events) and brother Duffy

Top Right: One of the student made and completed centerpieces on a dinning table

Bottom Center: Anne Fanganello and Carena Reber (Excelsior Youth Centers Development Department)