Rene Kane displays a dress donated for the Project Prom AC project.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach and the Milton & Betty Katz JCC are drop-off locations for the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City's annual Project Prom program.
The program provides new and gently-used, prom-appropriate dresses for area high school students at no cost, so they can enjoy their magical evening without breaking the bank. Dresses should reflect current fashion trends preferred by teens. All dress sizes are needed. Dresses with damage or stains will not be accepted.
An army of volunteers collect and sort the dresses before bringing them to Kensington Furniture store, 200 Tilton Road in Northfield, where they will be distributed to high school students. Any dresses that are unsuitable for prom are donated to area thrift shops.
Volunteers collect and sort the dresses to be distributed to teens at Kensington furniture store in Northfield.
Over the last 10 years, the project has given away thousands of dresses to young women regardless of financial status.
There are no qualifications to receive a dress, said Rene Kane, who founded the program and has been volunteering for nearly a decade.
Kane started the project after her two daughters spent good money on expensive prom dresses that they only wore once. When she learned on Facebook that a mom was looking for a dress for her daughter, Kane realized there were several hanging in her daughters' closets.
Dresses will be distributed 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 11; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 12; and 2-6 p.m. Monday, March 13. Girls can try on their dreamy frocks in one of 12 dressing rooms set up on the second floor at Kensington.
We dress about 300 to 400 girls over the weekend, Kane said.
Dresses can be dropped off at the Berkshire Hathaway office at 9218 Ventnor Ave., or at the JCC, 501 N. Jerome Ave., no later than Tuesday, Feb. 21. Dresses can also be dropped off at Fringe Boutique, 210 New Road in Linwood.
For more information, see projectpromac.com or Project Prom AC on Facebook, or call Rene Kane at 609-703-8592.
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