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Turning A Broken Heart Into A Chance For Charity


Lots of girls dream of a big fairy tale wedding, but sometimes Cupid's arrow misses its target and bursts those dreams.

But one woman is turning a broken heart into a chance for charity.

For Abby Allford everything was perfect.

"This is just what I've dreamed of my entire life," said Allford as she gazed at her wedding dress.

Allford had picked out the wedding dress, booked the reception venue at the Driskill Hotel, even had the flowers and the cake all ready to go.

She never dreamed her dream wedding would be called off.

"Honestly I was in shock," said Allford. "I mean, I was crying, I said please don't do this to me and then it was like he was gone. It was the worst feeling you could imagine."

Just one month before she was set to say 'I Do' Allford's fianc e said 'I can't.'

"I think you just panic," said Allford about realizing her relationship was over. "You have all this fear and eventually you realize you have to keep moving forward and go on because you don't have a choice, it's not within your control."

Moving forward means more than just putting down the tissue box. With just weeks until her wedding day, it was too late to cancel and too late to get any of her non-refundable money back.

"A lot of us would just freeze, we wouldn't know what to do, you know?" said Riverbend Church Mission's Pastor Andrew Carpenter. "But some of us have the resolve to go, 'you know what, I'm going to make something good out of this'. Lemons into lemonade type of thing."

That's exactly what Allford is now planning. Her lemonade is a lavish charity event for Riverbend Church.  

"I initially was completely dreading the day," said Allford. "I didn't want to be alone, but now I truly feel like it's still going to be a night filled with joy and love for me."

The night that should have been the happiest of her life, her first as a married woman, will now be used to bring joy to the underprivileged children served by the church's charities.

"I feel like I'm still going to be happy. I'm still going to be ok, and hopefully I'll still get married someday in the future," Allford said optimistically.

Allford's big day is next Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Driskill hotel.  She's selling tickets for $50, with 100 percent of the proceeds from that night going to the charities.  You can buy tickets at http://www.riverbend.com/benefit.

By Karen Kiley