Cinderella’s Closet Makes Dreams Come True, Donated Prom Dresses Fit for A Princess

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Each year on the first weekend in March, the High Springs Lions Club opens its doors and helps make dreams come true for local teenage girls by offering free prom gowns, shoes and corsages. The motto at the event is “If it Fits, Its Yours.” The event is successful due to support and sponsorship from the local community. The dresses are donations from people who had their prom, formal affair or wedding party and no longer need the dress, and they offer it to a new generation for them to have their prom dreams come true. Many accessories and services are donated by businesses and individuals.

Serving an increasing number of girls each year, the dresses and accessories are collected throughout the year. Items and funds are donated by people throughout the community through the club’s “Donate a Dress - Support a Dream” team project. Local businesses provide additional services to make it a complete magical experience for the teenagers. Referred to as Fairy Godmothers and Godfathers, they offer such free services as boutonnieres and corsages from flower shops, tailors for alterations, limos and party buses, hair salons for nails, hair and makeup, photographers, DJ /bands, tux rentals and caterers.

The Lions Club also creates a book for the girls for use at special events throughout their lives. “We are trying to create a guide book so they can use it not just for prom but also for their next prom (senior) or wedding as well as a memory book of their event,” said Lions Club member Barb Kowats.

“We gave away 108 dresses over the weekend and still have 815, which will go back in storage for next year to help make the cost of a prom dress not an obstacle to a family being able to afford send their daughter to prom,” said Lions Club member Leslie Flage.

Cinderella’s Closet was founded in 2006 in Lakeside Park, Kentucky, after Erin Peterson overheard a teenager ask a consignment shop clerk if a gown on display could be put on hold while she figured out how to pay for it. The teenager asked her foster mother for the money, but a prom dress was an extra in life, and its price was out of their reach. Seeing her disappointment, Peterson stepped in bought the dress for her. As tears flooded her eyes, said she would look “just like Cinderella.”

In partnership with Immanuel United Methodist Church, Cinderella’s Closet was born. Through donations of new and gently used formal dresses and accessories, the organization was able to “Turn Dresses into Dreams” for juniors and seniors referred to the organization by their schools, community organizations or social care agencies. The program ensures that costs associated with attending prom are not a financial burden on a family by offering the gown shopping experience at no extra cost. But the benefit is more than just a dress, Cinderella's Closet provides an unforgettable experience for these girls to remember for the rest of their lives.

In High Springs, Kelly Dees, who owned All Creations Salon, heard about the idea and began working with the High Springs Lions Club to sponsor a local event in 2010. Dees ran the program and recruited sponsors while the Lions Club provided the location, additional sponsors and staff to hold the event.  

Now the Lion's Club is running the program under the direction of Lion member Shelly Smith Denton, and all the female members of the Lion's Club also participate

Denton says that seeing the girls’ faces shine when they see themselves in a three-way mirror makes it all worth it.

“It’s a great experience to see it—many of these girls couldn’t even go or get a dress if they didn’t come here,” said Denton. “The excitement and joy in their faces makes the event a success.”

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