By james art 
Wilmington-for most of the first-time visitors to Debbie Bologna’s dress in Wilmington, known as Jessica’s closet, the experience is in line with those looking for a personalized ball dress, a semi-formal event or a wedding of a little to do any expenses.
However, for the bologna, the experience is inextricably linked to the memory of the day she spent shopping with her daughter Jessica – and dedicated to the worship of the generous spirit she made Jessica, who was.
Fifteen years ago, in early January 2010, Jessica tragically lost her life in an accident with motor sled. Jessica’s short life was full of confessions, and her mother describes Jessica as “full of life, incredibly active and outgoing.”
She was the president of the Student Council for her junior and senior years at Twin Valley High School (TVHS); Secretary of the freshmen, president of a sophomore class and senior president of the class; A graduate of high honor; member of the TVHS leadership club and the TVHS mentoring program; A big sister in the Big Bridge Brethren County Sisters, where she went to high school, and the great siblings of Connecticut, where she attended a college.
She serves as the captain of her football, basketball and softball teams in high school and really enjoyed outdoors and everything she could offer.
However, these confessions and entertainment do not clearly determine who Jessica is really. According to her mother, Jessica’s largest qualities are her compassion, her commitment to the community and her nourishing love for the people around her – she was really glad to give. She was someone who saw the need, said Bologna, and then worked passionately to release him.
Bologins recalled a day when her seventh -grade daughter and a friend trained three grade and four rural basketballs.
“Jessica had a very happy one,” she said. “She will share her wardrobe with everyone about everything. And it was her – and it was the personification – one day I went home and there they are under the armor shorts – go.”
Bolognani, knowing how expensive some of the objects are distributed, asked why. Jessica’s answer was simple – someone needed them more than she was. Some of the young girls in the basketball team came to train in their jeans because they had nothing else.
“So it was her.” And this is her, “said Bologins, pointing to the boutique of the dress. “That’s right.”
According to Bolognani, he really crashed at home when as a head of the junior bale committee, her daughter was “drunk with nuts” by the number of classmates who said that visiting the ball is too expensive and they will not be able to be able to They go. Jessica wanted everyone to go. She persuaded the secretary of the guidance for orientation to put a trunk for dresses behind her desk to donate dresses. The dresses were a huge hit and solved the problem for many.
Thinking back to the beginning of Jessica’s wardrobe, Bolognai recalled how her daughter’s friends were desperate to help in any way. They started raising funds and Bolognani demanded that the money be used to launch a continued scholarship fund, which is still very active to this day.
“There was such a pouring of support after she died,” Bolognos said. Each of these academic communities, sports communities and non -profit communities, of which Jessica was part, seeks to remember her in some way.
“For me, it’s like yesterday – and it’s hard for me to talk about the story,” Bolognos said. “Throughout her life, her love for the children and the people around her was an inspiration. She liked to dress – and she was always ready to share her wardrobe with others. “
These two sources of joy for Jessica – dressing and giving – united to form the idea of Jessica’s wardrobe and set an example of the nature of his namesake. Encouraged by the history of public radio in Vermont, the donations began to pour. On weekends and evening, when he did not fit fittings, he found himself to drive to collect cars with dresses. Raising funds from Aeropostale NYC employees led to shelves for formal clothing – and the Gala Crown of the Executive Director – for example, to add to the collection.
In the center of the boutique stand, two dresses of dummies: one is fitted with a stunning purple Taffeta dress, the other is mounted in a bold pink fuchsia satin. These were Jessica’s senior and junior proms respectively – and they never relax.
With the exception of the two dresses that started everything, “these are all donations,” explained Bolognars, waving the hand expansion over the incredibly diverse accumulated collection. And, Jessica’s wardrobe showroom is not small, consisting of three large round shelves and a dozen or more long shelves that created a maze on a path throughout the boutique – all of them filled to the edge with a total of over 3000 dresses.
In addition, jewelry, shoes, gloves, scarves, veils and countless other accessories fill the shelves and cases throughout the boutique.
In the back left corner of the location, the full -length mirrors stand around a raised platform. Directly from the platform there are benches to sit the accompanying family members. The front left corner of the store has a generous area for mounting with curtains of cabin. Several elegantly dressed dummies model a number of dresses at the entrance – they congratulate those who come in.
The changing rooms are a sacred space, explained Bologins – and here the magic happens.
Burning the spirit of Jessica, bologna nourishes the girls who come to her boutique. Just like this day, she took her daughter to shop, she is dealing with them, helping them find the dress that really suits them. With the average visit with a little more than two hours, a lot of mentoring happens to a girl.
“I teach self -esteem, hygiene,” said Bolognai, who laughed that she seemed to have developed a gift to combine every girl with the perfect fit and style – and to raise others. “Every girl who comes out of here – they are gorgeous. And this is just me and Jess – that’s what we do. I love girls. I want them to look good. I realized that how I was now how I was always; I just didn’t know it. “
“It has been 15 years now. Most of the girls who come here today do not know anything about Jessica, “Bolognae said. “But it brought me to places I never thought I would go.
“It saved my life – there is no doubt,” added Bologins.
However, as a laboratory manager, her work is “very difficult” after the pandemic and takes on a larger amount of time. “I spend many hours there – and this – that’s too much for me. And I just had some health. And things are different. I used to have a lot of help over the years and now – it’s just really different and I’m getting old. It just happens a lot and I just have no help. “
Bologna’s friends urge her to let him go and create a new chapter in her life – and she accepted that it was time. With her retirement from her work, she will come up with a way to release it.
“I love him here – I love everything about it. But this is a huge trigger for me. This is a huge trigger and I have to move close to my family. A few years ago I stopped raising funds, so it works with a very low budget. “
Jessica’s closet was a mother’s work of love and a way to honor her daughter. Together with the Jessica locker, who provides sportswear clothing to the needy in schools and scholarship programs that allow children to go to sports camps, Bolognars did just that – “It changed me completely.”
After opening the boutique, Bologna has served thousands and thousands of girls and young women. Just a few years later, the number of serviced exceeded 5,000 – before Bolognars stopped counting.
“What is really special is that the girls who have donated their dresses love to see other girls who wear them,” Bolognae said. “It’s all in the culture – and it’s completely Jessica. Everything here has a story. Everything is meaningful. “
“Ever since I announced that I was retreating, they have all shared their experience in the last 15 years,” Bolognai said, citing the Facebook group, Jessica’s wardrobe – where she appointed meetings. “And it’s just hard for me to let it go. But it is my intention to either take it as another non -profit purpose, or attach it to one of the schools. And everyone thinks. “
What Bologna would like to see is Jessica’s heritage to continue to be worshiped, although she recognizes changes in modern society – “No one wants to participate voluntarily.” It is open to considering any ideas or suggestions, but its timeline is short.
“I am going to work during the prom season,” Bolognai said, although he expects to cross a new road between June and December 2025.