May 16, 2018
Prom season. Some girls might will spend hours selecting their prom dresses – many of which will only be worn once – while other girls won’t even get to attend because they can’t afford a dress. It seems like a problem begging to be remedied.
At Lakehill Preparatory School this spring, the Sisteens (our high school service group for girls) partnered with my friend Kim Peters to collect prom dresses. Kim is the founder and executive director of the Prom Shop Project (website under construction), a grassroots organization whose mission for the past 17 years has been to donate gently used prom dresses and accessories to underprivileged girls.
Peters started in 2001, with just 75 dresses in Dallas, and now gives away thousands of dresses and accessories in cities across Texas. Her hope is to not only provide dresses, but to surround girls in need with positive role models.
Schools participate by hosting a donation drive on campus and dropping off their donations prior to the dress give-away event. I was thrilled for Lakehill to participate, and the response was extremely positive. Not only did girls donate their prom dresses, but parents and teachers went through their own closets to find formals that they could share. I donated several formal dresses that I had kept in my closet for years, reminders of treasured moments and fond memories. I realized it would be better to pass them on, with the hope that they might help someone else create special memories of her own.
Several non-profits conduct similar drives. In Dallas, Comerica Bank has provided dresses to Dallas CASA and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas for several years, and the Dallas Public Library holds its Fairy Tale Closet event to distribute dresses to girls. Becca’s Closet, in Florida, was originally founded to collect and distribute dresses to high school girls with financial need. They have now expanded the foundation to raise funds for post-secondary educational scholarships. Chapters can be found across the U.S.
Conduct an online search in your own city to see how you can get involved. Your donation can help make a prom dress dream come true for someone else.
