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Committee at NRHS collects dresses, suits to help those with financial constraints
Student committee makes sure prom cost isn’t an obstacle.
When the NRHS prom committee realized that some students might not be attending the year-end dance for graduates because of financial constraints, its members decided to help.
So they began collecting previously worn prom dresses, suits, shoes and other accessories to offer at a low cost.
To date, they have more than 100 dresses in their inventory, and have helped several students with their prom-night attire.
Prom committee chairperson Brooke McVicar said she’s happy to know they’re making a difference.
“As long as it helps one person, that was our goal and just to provide support that people need,” she said.
McVicar said the prom is a tradition for graduates. “A lot of people dream about it,” she said. “It’s important to have the opportunity to experience it if they choose to.”
Just the other day, McVicar assisted a girl with finding a dress in the colour she had her heart set on. “She was really
grateful, and really excited to finally find a blue dress. It was really great to help her out.”
Matt O’Toole said he’s proud that the students have taken on the social equity project “to try to make sure anybody who wants to can attend, and to make sure financial reasons are
not the reason students aren’t attending prom.”
While this is the first student-led dress drive at the high school in Alma, McVicar said the school’s administration has always tried to help any students who found the costs too high.
The prom committee also created a confidential online form for students to fill out if they require help. “When we wanted to do a dress drive, we found out a lot of people don’t come forward about needing assistance,” said committee member Maddie Kennedy.
“It keeps things a little more discreet, and stops people from getting singled out,” she said, adding that before these students would have to talk to the principal.
McVicar said it also gave the committee time to look for specific dresses, “not just the sizes on the rack.”
Volunteers have also come forward to offer hair styling and make-up application on the day of the prom. “It’s just a matter of students letting us know they need it.”
“I’m proud of everything we’ve done,” said Kennedy.
North Nova Education Centre in New Glasgow has held a dress drive for the past several years – including this one – and parent Jodi MacIvor said students are very appreciative.
The formal dresses can range in price from $100 to about $1,000.
“Prom dresses are so expensive,”
she said. “It’s a way to help some students out with the heavy burden of graduation. They can attend without worrying about the price of a gown.”
MacIvor said they ask the students who wear one of these dresses to return it after the prom if they can, so it can be passed on to someone else.
So far, she said about five students have taken advantage of the “nice, beautiful gowns.”