& gowns

Big prom dress giveaway from a Queens angel

GIRLS, GET READY for your red carpet moment.

A generous Queens mother of five wants all students to look their best on prom night and she has just the gown for . . . every girl who needs one.

Angela Hines, 48, of Far Rockaway, is launching her annual free prom dress giveaway Saturday at the Goldie Maple Academy in Edgemere.

“We steam the dresses, give the girls shoes and accessories — and everything else they need for prom,” said Hines. “We want to make sure the girls feel beautiful.”

Hines, a Legal Aid attorney, began the charity giveaway to help low-income families struggling after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“This all started off with me asking colleagues and friends to donate dresses, and now we have stores and designers who donate,” she said. “Kleinfeld Bridal and a store in New Jersey called Kee Kee Dees donate to us every year. We had so many designers this year that I can’t think of all the names.”

She has collected approximately 500 gowns in previous years.

Hines was inspired to launch the charity event after her daughter was graduating from middle school and attending a prom herself.

“She came home with an expensive fee for graduation and it was a lot,” she recalled. “I’m from this area, so I know the hardship that fee would be for other people in the community.”

Hines herself has served as an inspiration.

She dropped out of high school and was a teen mom. But she went back to school and fulfilled her dream to become a lawyer.

“I went to Goldie Maple Academy in middle school and I lived in some of those housing projects that I go back to,” she said.

The prom dresses aren’t the only way Hines gives back. She also mentors middle school girls by highlighting her own success story.

Hines additionally operates school supply drives in which she collects notebooks, backpacks and pencils. The supplies are given to students at a Far Rockaway elementary school, where many of the kids qualify for free or reduced lunches.

The items are supplied by colleagues, friends and local stores. But Hines is always seeking to gather more items in the neverending challenge.

The prom dress event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is open to anyone in need. For more information, visit www.project-window.org.