A Perfect Fit: Party Princess CNY

Ronnie Parrillo: Six-year-old Evelynn is like a lot of little girls.

Evelynn: Who’s your favorite Disney princess? Ariel.

Ronnie Parrillo: And she likes to dress like one too.

Evelynn: Why do you like that one so much? It’s sparkly.

Ronnie Parrillo: But, for some kids, being able to put on an outfit that makes them feel like royalty, is only just a fantasy. For some girls like Evelynn, they didn’t have a dress to wear, and that’s a disappointment for any child. But, thanks to one woman who lives here on Butternut Street in Syracuse, that changed for hundreds of kids in Central New York.

Kym Servillo-Gardner: So, our goal is to provide birthday dresses, shoes, and tiaras for young girls in need for their birthday.

Ronnie Parrillo: Kym Servillo-Gardner is a woman who gives children a little bit of magic, in a very big way.

Kym Servillo-Gardner: I had offered to get a dress, and it just became something from there.

Ronnie Parrillo: Kym launched Party Princess Central New York out of her Northside home during the pandemic after seeing a Facebook post from a mother in need of a birthday dress for her daughter. And since then…

Kym Servillo-Gardner: It’s year round, and we just do these two events. We do these events, we do a family barbecue. We’ve done horseback or horse-drawn carriage rides with princesses.

Ronnie Parrillo: Syracuse has one of the highest child poverty rates in the nation, with almost 46 percent of children living below the poverty line. But Kym didn’t stop there.

Kym Servillo-Gardner: A lot of the people, while it didn’t start this way, a lot of the people we help, are the people who are caught in the middle. They don’t qualify for any services, but life’s a struggle for a lot of people right now.

Lisa Boronczyk: To see the amount of love that Kym puts into it is amazing. Like to know that there’s still people who are willing to go the extra mile for anybody. I guess that’s what drew me to her organization that she’s not just low income, she’s anybody.

Ronnie Parrillo: Lisa Boronczyk met Kym while getting a birthday dress for her own granddaughter. But, more than anything she took home in her hands, she was struck by Kym’s heart.

Lisa Boronczyk: There is no separate for her. She is all about the kids. 100 percent. If you talk to her on her day off, she’s out shopping for the kids.

Ronnie Parrillo: Kym works with humility. Waiting tables by night, and helping children by day. Every shoe she ties, every dress she hangs, is done with love. All completely free of charge.

Michelle Cherchio-Pelow: We have been blessed by Kym’s gratitude. What she does just out of the kindness of her heart is immense.

Ronnie Parrillo: And this holiday season, Kym is literally going the extra mile.

Kym Servillo-Gardner: There’s a holiday shop in the back where the kids can shop for a gift for free for their parents. Santa’s here. We do a couple other things. And then on top of that, they write letters to Santa. Then after the event, I’ll go through all the letters and we buy at least two gifts per child. Wrap them, and deliver them to their homes.

Ronnie Parrillo: Taking her own money to put gifts for hundreds of kids under the tree.

Michelle Cherchio-Pelow: She’s definitely a Godsend.

Ronnie Parrillo: Showing the world that giving back is always in style, for every party princess. In Syracuse, Ronnie Parrillo, NCC News.