The Cupertino Courier

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Photograph by Brian Connelly

Renee Surcouf, the executive director of Dress for Success-San Francisco, holds up one of the hundreds of suits donated to her program. Dress for Success outfits low-income women for job interviews.

Suiting up for Dress for Success

By ANNE WARD ERNST

Bart Biaggi's approach to getting clothing donations for a local charity is just a slice of cake shy of blackmail.

When the owner of The Secret Ingredient Catering in San Jose learned Cupertino's Cypress Hotel was holding a fundraiser and clothing drive for Dress for Success, Biaggi wanted to help.

Dress for Success is an international nonprofit organization that helps low-income women find and retain jobs. Part of the program includes providing appropriate--and free--business clothing and accessories.

At the March 28 event, the Cypress Hotel collected hundreds of donated suits, blouses and other business attire and accessories; 90 of the suits came from Biaggi and the clients whose arms he twisted.

As Biaggi explains, many of his regular customers are executive assistants who work in the high-tech industry and who place catering orders for business meetings or parties.

A timely last-minute request found Biaggi turning the tables to ask the executive assistant for a favor. When one of them called him at 4 p.m. one day begging for cake to feed 400 people and ready to be delivered the next morning, Biaggi was happy to stay up half the night baking--on one condition. He demanded the executive assistant donate a suit from her own closet to Dress for Success. No suit, no cake. She came through, and so did dozens of his regulars.

He used the same food-for-clothing sanction on them and chuckled about it all the way to the cleaners. Biaggi convinced a dry cleaner to donate its services by cleaning all the donated goods.

Biaggi's tactic was so successful that he ran out of room at his office and called George Rubio, director of sales at the Cypress Hotel, to ask if he could bring the stacks of clothing by before the evening's reception.

Biaggi's bags of shoes, scarves and handbags were soon joined by dozens more as about 100 guests arrived, most with a donation on a hanger or in a bag in exchange for the reception hosted by the hotel.

Cypress Hotel is owned and operated by Kimpton Hotels, which is a national sponsor of Dress for Success. Each year Kimpton Hotels nationwide hold similar events, usually in March--which is National Women's History Month--or April, as part of a company program called Kimpton Cares.

The wine tasting for the evening was hosted by J. Lohr Winery, which also donated the wine. The money from a raffle went directly to Dress for Success.

Dress for Success has locations in 75 cities, including Los Angeles and San Diego, and is expected to open its San Francisco site this summer, said Renee Surcouf, executive director of the San Francisco branch.

Inventory is building up steadily, she said, and it's just a matter of finding the right location with an affordable rent. In the meantime, the organization is letting communities know it is here.

Its clients are low-income women who need a boost getting in the job market. The women come to Dress for Success on a referral basis from homeless shelters, immigration services, job training programs and domestic violence shelters. Once a woman lands a job interview, Dress for Success gives her an appropriate business suit for the meeting and tips on how to get the job. A personal shopper helps her with everything from earrings to shoes.

When she gets the job, she is given a week's worth of separates and accessories to mix and match.

Through the Professional Women's Group at Dress for Success, women are coached on how to keep a job and how to improve skills and advance in the job market. Monthly meetings include topics on communication skills, unwritten rules of the workplace, childcare issues, financial planning, stress management and juggling responsibilities.

Surcouf said though the organization will be located in San Francisco, it plans to serve the greater Bay Area. Clothing drives will be held throughout the peninsula on a regular basis, and future plans include opening an office in Silicon Valley.

For more information on Dress for Success, go to www.dressforsuccess.org, or call 415.305.9151.