Free dresses make prom prettier

By Monica Green/features@trcle.com

March 23, 2008 04:05 pm

— High school girls across Johnson County are gearing up for prom. One local group is also gearing up — to help girls who might need attire for the event.
The Hearts of Gold Circle of King’s Daughters set up the Prom Shop, which will be open Friday in hopes of giving girls their dream dresses — for free.
“It came to our knowledge that there were a lot of girls in Johnson County that would love to go to prom but might not have the funds to buy the dress of their dreams,” said Lizzie, the Prom Shop coordinator. Members of King’s Daughters circles do not use last names publicly.
Also, the members found themselves with lots of extra dresses because of their activity in other community events such as Heritage Assembly and Black and White Gala, the circle’s president, Julie, said.
“We found ourselves with tons of dresses, and we batted the idea around of what to do with them,” Julie said. “We thought it’d be great to offer them to girls who might not have a dress for prom or other formals.”
More than 50 dresses have been donated so far from circle members, family and friends of the circle members, Heritage Assembly, the Black and White Gala committee and Comet Cleaners.
“We should have between 50 and 70 dresses,” Lizzie said.
Christi’s in the Nolan River Mall donated about 30 new handbags and some earrings.
“There will also be some shoes, although we don’t have a lot of accessories,” Julie said.
Plans are in motion to make this an annual event.
“This year will be a learning process for us,” Julie said. “With very minimal recruiting we got more than 50 gowns. Surely with as many formal events as people in Cleburne attend, we should be able to get a lot more next year.”
The Prom Shop will be open from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the First United Methodist Church, 1300 Westhill Drive in Cleburne. It is open to any girls who attend high schools in Johnson County.
“We’re very excited to have the opportunity to do this,” Julie said. “All of us enjoyed [the prom] in our youth, and it’s our turn to turn around and offer that to girls.
“Hopefully they’ll remember this later on down the road. We want them to remember that people can do good, and you can do it in any way you want to.”
For information or to donate a dress, call Lizzie at 817-933-2172.