GEORGETOWN, Ky. — It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to wear a beautiful dress and feel like a princess.
"We are in the middle of our prom dress giveaway. We have pulled together dresses. We have probably close to 400 right now, of dresses that have been donated by the community. They have been steamed, they have been washed, they are prepared and ready for young ladies to come hopefully find their dream prom dress," Michele Carlisle, the executive director of the AMEN House non-profit, said.
Georgetown’s AMEN House and Faith Baptist Church have come together to make prom night a very special and affordable evening for young women across Scott County as part of their Prom Dress Give-A-Way. Prom dresses of all styles, colors, and sizes fill the hall thanks to a small army of volunteers in hopes of making every young woman that attends dreams come true.
"Oh my gosh. It makes my heart so full, especially young women who are, maybe don't have the means to come to prom, just alleviate and eliminate that concern or take away all of that fear and come and get a prom dress from us," Laryssa McConnaughay, a volunteer, said.
For many women hoping to go to prom, the decision to attend sometimes falls on the ability to afford a beautiful dress. With that in mind, organizers of the “Prom Dress Give-A-Way” set out to help those that might not be able to afford a dress by offering them a free gown, and giving each of them the chance to go to prom thanks to the generosity of others that already had their chance.
"These prom dresses retail can be very, very expensive and the heart of AMEN House was just to find a way to fill that gap for if there's any young lady who wanted to go to prom, we did not want the expense of the dress to be in the way of that. So hopefully we've got them covered, and if you want to go to prom and need a prom dress, hopefully we have a dress for you," Carlisle said.
"The people that donated, they've got to be wonderful people. And the ones that put this together, it is a very wonderful, caring gesture that they have done. And the dresses are beautiful. A lot of people couldn't afford dresses, me for one, because I've got two. And we couldn't afford to buy dresses like this," Linda Land, a grandmother attending the event, said.
To make each dress perfect, volunteers helped to collect, size, clean and repair each dress. Of course, no gown would be complete without adding matching shoes, jewelry, and purses which are also free. For prom goers Lexi and Bree Land, it was all about leaving with a dress they’d love and all the accessories to match.
"I think it's very wonderful and it's a good chance for students and people that can't go out and afford prom dresses to be able to get this event, to be able to experience their first prom or their last," Lexi Land said.
Her sister Bree agreed.
"I found this beautiful dress, this is my number one. I think it's amazing. I think it's absolutely wonderful what you all are doing here," she said.
It's amazing for Bree and Lexi, but a dream come true for their grandmother Linda.
"I wanted to cry and I didn't want to cry, but oh, they looked so beautiful and I love it," she said.
There were tears of joy at The Amen House “Prom Dress Give-A-Way," an opportunity for these young women to head to prom in a picture-perfect dress.
The event continues next Friday and Saturday.