In the pouring rain on Saturday, more than 100 teens from across New York City waited in the shade for a chance to win a free graduation dress.
Top graduation may be an overpriced rite of passage, or a classic high school experience, but it’s not affordable. Youth in the Northeast spend per homecoming on common, according to a Yahoo! study of more than 1, 700 individuals across the country.
By donating containers of proper attire to teenagers all over the city, The Brooklyn Prom Project aims to reduce those costs. It is a component of Operation Prom National Network, which was started 20 centuries before by Noel D’Allacco, a past event planner, after discovering that she and her customers had leftover bridesmaid dresses.
“It’s a work of love”, said Dawn Simon, the i- director of the Brooklyn Prom Project, which is now in its 11th season.
“Prom is a rite of passage for high school graduating elderly”, said Simon. “If we can assist offset those expenses by providing them with free shoes, a dress, a suit, a clothing, then we know that we are actually making an impact, because, let’s face it, the cost of a homecoming these days can be the price of a mini- wedding”.
Saturday’s freebie took area inside the school of a large class in Downtown Brooklyn. As tens of costume racks were arranged in rows, hip-hop music blared in. Furniture offered relationships and gloves as accessories. Voluntary stylists and appropriate experts assisted in the creation of their ideal clothing.
“I felt emotional”, said Marie Cineus, who was there with her child, Pierrelyn, 17. “It feels great to be here. You observe individuals assisting one another. Especially now with the business, it’s really tough for some households”.
Pierrelyn arrived at the graduation wearing a dress about an hour later. It was dark with glitter and plants.
A charity helps a student weave a connect at Saturday’s event.
Photo by Scott Heins for Gothamist
Charles Wang, a scholar at Staten Island Technical High School, was looking for official clothes.
“It was very busy, it was almost like thrifting, you have to find the thing that you want before somebody else takes it”, he said. However, there was a lot of assistance, and whoever I asked would often take the time and effort to locate what I needed.
He later scored a corresponding jacket, trousers, shirt and tie.
For Wang, the moment offered an unexpected option.
“I learned how to tie a knot today”, he said.
Elizabeth Ferreira, a professor at the Brooklyn School for Social Justice in Bushwick, was there with her child, Villinez, as well as 20 of her kids.
Ferreira claimed that many of her kids are undocumented and were shocked to receive free clothing or matches.
“A lot of them were not going to prom”, said Ferreria. They didn’t have the money, but now that they have the dress for free, they will be selling chocolates and other little things to help pay for prom.
As she was holding a dark fairy dress that she planned to use to her own prom, Villinez, who was standing next to her, beamed.
“This is actually so exciting”, said Villinez, a freshman at Forest Hills High School. We had to get up first because we were on line like 44 and my mother’s kids were in their 20s, but it was all worth it.
Operation Prom National Network has information on it for you.