‘GET THE DRESSES TO THE GIRLS’
600 free prom dresses — 30 donated from Miss CT — for annual giveaway
STAMFORD — Holly Hyman has a basement full of prom dresses, and she’s ready to give them away.
The organizer of the annual Cinderella Project in Stamford — in which local high school seniors could pick up a prom dress for free or at the reduced price of $20 — was unable to stage the event last year due to COVID-19.
But Hyman had still collected over 500 dresses in the lead-up to the giveaway. Once it was canceled, along with prom and pretty much every other school event, those dresses ended up in Hyman’s basement, where they’ve been ever since.
On Friday, the dresses will finally see the light of day, as the clothing will be made available to seniors from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford gym.
And this year, everything will be given away for free — not just to those who qualify for free or reduced lunch like in the past.
“These girls need to smile,” Hyman said. “I know money is tight for a lot of people. I know it’s been a rough year. I
want everyone to leave with a dress.”
This will be the seventh prom dress event Hyman has organized in Stamford. She first decided to create such an opportunity after overhearing a Stamford High School student say she wanted a prom dress but didn’t have the money for it.
Hyman said people still donated dresses even during the pandemic. Her tally is now up to 600 or so. There will also be shoes, bags, makeup and jewelry for the taking.
Hyman even got a collection of 30 dresses worn by and donated by recent Miss Connecticut Jillian Duffy, who is expected to be in attendance at the event on Friday.
Duffy, of Burlington, said she first heard of the Cinderella Project while shopping in Stamford at A Step Ahead on High Ridge Road. Workers at the shop asked her if she had any extra gowns she could donate to the cause.
“Automatically, my family and I said, ‘Absolutely,’ ” said Duffy, who won Miss Connecticut in 2019 and held the crown in 2020 as there was no competition due to COVID-19.
Duffy has been participating in pageants since the age of 8, so she’s accumulated a lot of dresses over the years.
She said she jumped at the chance to participate on Friday for the prom dress event.
“I want to see the faces of the women when they walk in and see the dresses,” she said.
Stamford announced last month that prom would return this year, but it would be outdoors and with social distancing requirements.
When Hymen heard prom would be back, her initial thought was: “I got to figure out a way to get the dresses to the girls.”
In previous years, the prom dress event was held at each of the three high schools on different days. But schools are still strict about who can come into buildings due to health concerns, which meant Hyman needed to find a new locale.
She first tried to organize something at Stamford Government Center, but that didn’t quite work out. Eventually, she settled on the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford.
Then it was time to rally her group of volunteers, which she lovingly refers to as her “shleppers,” since they have to move dresses from her basement and transport them to the location of the event.
Many of those volunteers double as Hyman’s “fairy godmothers,” who work the event and are paired with students throughout their process of finding the right dress.
“The goal is to give out as many dresses as possible,” she said.
This year will also be different because of health reasons. Hyman said everyone will have their temperature checked and social distancing will be maintained as much as possible in the spacious gymnasium.
Deborah Hirsch has volunteered with Cinderella Project the last few years.
“When I started doing it, it was so amazing,” Hirsch said. “You feel so good. It’s such a wonderful thing to be able to do for someone.”
She called last year “horrible for seniors” after prom and other end-of-year rites were canceled. This year, she hopes many will take advantage of the opportunity.
“Some of these young people might not be able to go to the prom if not for this,” she said. “This is a way to go and have a good time and look great.”
For Hyman, it has the added benefit of cleaning out her basement. “My son keeps saying, ‘Are we ever going to get our basement back?’ ” she said.