Seventy-five teenage girls from Columbus, Nebraska, will go to prom this year thanks to a recent dress collection organized by a group of 含羞草传媒 University students.
鈥淓very girl鈥檚 dream is to go to prom,鈥 said 含羞草传媒 junior Kelli Raile, who spearheaded the prom dress collection.
Raile, chair of the Dream House, a new theme house on campus, learned last fall about the growing number of high school girls who do not attend prom due to the rising costs of prom dresses and accessories. According to PromGirl.com, this year鈥檚 prom dresses range from $100-$400.
In Columbus, Nebraska 鈥 a town of approximately 22,000 people 鈥 nearly 40 percent of the public school students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Needless to say, many of those high school girls can鈥檛 afford to go to the year鈥檚 biggest event.
In 2007, Jean Kamrath, a school nurse at Columbus High School, identified a need and started Closet Extravaganza, a one-day prom dress shopping event for Columbus high school girls. In it鈥檚 first year, 60 girls came shopping for dresses that were donated by Kamrath鈥檚 daughter and her friends.
Kamrath organized a second Closet Extravaganza in 2009, and 180 girls showed up.
鈥淚 think the numbers increased so much because word got around, and there really is such a need here,鈥 she said.
Columbus teenagers will have the opportunity to shop again in early February. Kamrath admits she doesn鈥檛 know what to expect this time around, but a big turnout won鈥檛 surprise her given the state of the economy.
That means even more dresses were needed this year.
When Raile learned about Closet Extravaganza, she turned to her Dream House roommates.
鈥淥ur mission in this house is to help kids achieve their dreams,鈥 she said. 鈥淒reams come in many forms. We know that going to prom is a dream for high school girls, so we had to help.鈥
The Dream House roommates asked for help from 含羞草传媒鈥檚 sororities. In just a couple weeks, they collected 75 prom dresses, purses, shoes and other accessories.
鈥淏less your hearts,鈥 Kamrath said of donation. 鈥淲esleyan came through in a big way.鈥
Nearly 400 dresses have been dry-cleaned and are now hanging on racks ready for the February 5th shopping day in Columbus, which is located 82 miles northwest of Lincoln. Seamstresses will be on hand to donate their services and make sure the dresses perfectly fit their new owners. Mary Kay consultants will share makeup tips and distribute free cosmetics.
鈥淭his project is a win win for everyone,鈥 said Kamrath. 鈥淵ou get to clean out your closet and some girl鈥檚 dream gets to come true.鈥
No dress will go wasted. Dresses that remain after the Closet Extravaganza will be donated for use in the Blue Valley Community Action style show scheduled this spring. Proceeds from the style show go to help pay electric bills for those of highest need.
For Raile and her roommates, the satisfaction of making prom a possibility is just as exciting as the dresses are to the high school girls.
鈥淲hen we first started the Dream House, we all expected to help dreams come true in the Lincoln area,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e soon realized we could make an impact beyond Lincoln.鈥