When Rebecca Leavens was a young girl, she would dress up like a princess, using her mother’s heels and wearing her classiest Easter dress.
It was one of her favorite things to do, and most importantly, it made her feel good about herself, which she believes is hard for many young girls to do.
Now, as a 17-year-old, she’s the founder of the nonprofit Princess Empowerment, which creates tiaras with a special headband to be worn comfortably by girls with cancer.
“It made me feel really good about myself in a world where it’s hard for girls to feel good about themselves. And as I grew up, I realized that all girls don’t have this experience,” said Leavens, a junior at Shawnee High School and a Medford resident.
When Leavens created her nonprofit, she wanted to give the girls a chance to not only have a hair accessory, but to have a fun childhood experience by decorating tiaras and dressing up as a princess. The tiaras are made on a soft headband rather than prongs, which allows the girls to wear them without any irritation to their scalp.
After Leavens realized who and how she wanted to help, she emailed almost every cancer charity within a three-hour commute to see if she could set up her tiara workshop. She soon realized it could be more than just a hobby.
So far, Leavens has made about 500 tiaras during the four events she has been involved in. She has gone to several New Jersey charity events and sets up a table with her tiaras.
She just received her Section 501(c)(3), which officially certifies her nonprofit as an organization and allows for federal tax exemption.
As a junior at Shawnee High School, she finds it difficult to juggle AP testing and school work while being active in her organization. But for her, just like sports, it’s something that allows her to do something outside of school work that makes her feel good.
“I can go away and do something where I can feel good about myself and in turn make other people feel good,” she said.
In college, she hopes to expand the nonprofit beyond just tiaras. She is inspired by how A Moment of Magic Foundation expanded from just princesses to also including superheroes.
As a small nonprofit, Leavens has to hand sew each knit headband, making sure to keep it at the right size for a young girl. Before about a month ago, when she decided to order custom tiaras that attach to the headband, she had to either glue or sew it on by hand. But according to her, she feels that it’s all worth it as long as it helps the young girls.
“They just want to be kids, they don’t want to lie in bed and be ‘the sick chemo patient’ or be cried over, they simply just want to dress up like a princess,” said Leavens.
