South Shore Cultural Center hosts special daddy daughter dance
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For a lot of girls, attending a daddy daughter dance is a rite of passage, and one South Side group is making sure every girl who wants to attend has a father figure as their date.
At the South Shore Cultural Center, the spread looked delicious, the room was decorated to the nines, as dads and daughters decked in their finest entered the ballroom on Friday for the Mr. Dad's Father's Club's first-ever daddy daughter dance.
Four-year-old Eden Tahama was escorted by her father. She insisted on them color coordinating for the dance.
Eden's special night started when dad picked her up from school with the flowers. She was looking forward to this night, but so was dad.
"This gives me the opportunity to make special moments with my daughter and my wife, you know. So that's very important to me, and I can highly appreciate what they're doing," he said.
The nonprofit Mr. Dad's Father's Club sponsored the free daddy daughter dance. Executive director Joseph Williams said the organization is about uplifting fathers in the community.
When the word got out about the daddy daughter dance, Williams couldn't believe the response.
"What I want the young ladies to walk away with today is just knowing that someone cares about you; and more than anything, your father is there, your father role model is there, and that our men are here," he said.
For daughters without fathers, members of the Chicago Police Department were there to fill the void.
"I'm going to step in. I'm a father myself, and I had to step in," Officer Cortez Cox said.
Cox, who is assigned to the Englewood District, even brought some comrades who were all bridging the gap, and taking community policing to new level.
"They're not alone. They still have people here to support them and look after them. They shouldn't be alone … and officers that support them also," Cox said.
Judging from all the smiles, it was a night every young lady in the ballroom will never forget – especially Eden.
"Because I love dancing," she said.