A Filipina teenager will be wearing the gown of Miss Bulgaria 2016 Violina Ancheva to her prom.
Single mother Issay Gallano took to Facebook to share photos of her 15-year-old daughter Zhyra Cifra wearing the blue Sherri Hill gown that Ancheva used during the opening of the Miss Universe preliminary competition.
“Happy and thankful… Thank you so much Miss Bulgaria. You have a beautiful heart. We wish you all the best. God bless you and your family,” Gallano wrote in the caption.
Ancheva met with Gallano at Conrad Manila Hotel in Pasay before flying back to Bulgaria Tuesday evening.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Ancheva said she wanted to give away her gown to a Filipino fan who can’t afford a prom dress. Her post garnered more than 28,000 shares.
“To my Filipino friends, I would like to give as present my Miss Universe gown to one of you that really want and need it. I want to give the dress to a girl in need that can’t buy a dress for her prom the next month,” she wrote.
Two hours before leaving Manila, Miss Bulgaria said she had yet to find a new owner of the dress.
In a report by CNN Philippines, Gallano said she could not afford to buy a prom dress for her daughter, adding that she was ready to pawn a necklace to add to her budget.
In the 2015 pageant, another representative of Bulgaria, Radostina “Joy” Todorova, earned praises from Filipino netizens as “bestie of the year,” when she encouraged Pia Wurtzbach to go get the crown after Steve Harvey corrected his mistake of announcing the Filipina as first runner up. YG/CBB
