Church’s Prom Boutique helps girls with free dresses

With prom season fast approaching, Woods Chapel United Methodist Church again has opened its popular Prom Boutique. This is the 16h year that the church has provided free dresses and accessories to those who otherwise couldn’t afford to attend a prom.

“Last year, we gave dresses away to over 1,500 young ladies,” Christy Barber, a volunteer at the church, told KMBC-TV. “As a mother of boys only, I didn’t get to do the prom dress shopping thing.”

Barber said she has definitely had her share of it in the last few years. “Jewels and beads and blue seem to be a big thing this year,” she said.

READ: Tim Tebow and Night to Shine Prom

Teens also get free shoes, jewelry and even a purse.

“She puts on that dress and sees herself in the mirror, she just sees herself completely differently,” Barber said. “It’s such a great feeling to know that you’ve helped a family to be a part of something that every high school kid wants to be a part of,” Barber said

The Prom Boutique has given out 20,000 free dresses over the years. This year, they’re not only giving out one dress, they’re giving out two – one for prom and one for graduation.. “When we unloaded everything off the truck on Sunday, we said, ‘Wow. We have a lot of short dresses,'” Barber said.

The boutique usually has more than 3,500 new or almost-new dresses from size 0 to size 28, which are available to any teen girl in the area, with no income test. Dresses are sorted by size, and girls are able to try them on in private dressing areas and choose the perfect dress. A team of skilled seamstresses is on hand to ensure that each dress fits its new owner just right. Each dress is then steamed and bagged before going home with its new owner.

This Promo Boutique will be held form 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. from March 4-6 and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 7. More information is available at www.promboutique.org.