Prom dress project gets in gear for spring
There were no big parties and posh proms for the class of 2020.
COVID-19 brought an end to all of that.
But knowing of its importance to seniors — not only as a memorable event with friends but a rite of passage for young men and women who are leaving high school and becoming adults — some families found a way to dance.
“They hosted mini proms,” said Moe Lietz, founder of the Sparkle Network, a charity that helps a variety of causes through fundraisers and programs such as the Prom Closet Project, which provides formal gowns and dresses to teenagers who want to attend their senior prom but do not have the means to buy a dress or the accessories to go with. “Parents got together and hosted a dance in their backyard or at a restaurant with an outdoor patio.
“We provided dresses for several of them,” Lietz said.
Now with pandemic prom season II approaching, Lietz put a question on Facebook asking what the class of 2021 had planned for their senior proms and was told that mini proms are still the rage.
So, off to the closet she went.
“This will be our sixth year,” Lietz said, of the program that began with one kind gesture, five-years ago when a good friend confided in her that being a single mother on a tight budget she was unable to buy her daughter a dress for the prom.
Since Lietz knew a little about fashion design and sewing she decided to help and came up with a beautiful gown for the woman’s daughter. The impact that one dress had on one girl is what prompted her to create the Prom Closet Project.
Every year since, the Sparkle Network has put on a trunk tour where teens can make an appointment online to visit the shop where the tour stops to pick out a dress of their dreams.
This year, thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor Macomb Mall the Prom Closet Project will make one stop with multiple dates including:
• May 14 (3 to 8 p.m.)
• May 15 (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
• May 16 (noon to 5 p.m.)
• May 21 (2 to 8 p.m.)
• May 22 (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
• May 23 (Noon to 5 p.m.)
The trunk show will feature hundreds of dresses in a variety of colors, designs and sizes (0 up to 24) including 400 fashionable selections donated by Macy’s at Somerset Mall in Troy.
The Prom Closet Project also tours in the fall for homecoming and what makes the program such a success is not only donations by individuals and groups but also because of the girls themselves who pay it forward.
In the fall the prom closet hosts a dress sale in which teens can purchase any dress they want for $10, which goes back into the program.
“Every year I hear from a student talking about how excited they were to wear their dress or from a parent who was grateful to see their daughter’s dream come true,” Lietz said.
Anyone looking to pick out a dress must have an appointment and while the Prom Closet Project deals mostly in gowns and dresses it has been known to secure tuxedos for those in need as well.
To make an appointment email sparkle.network3@ gmail.com
For additional information about upcoming events, “like & follow” Sparkle Network on Facebook, follow on Twitter at @sparklenetwork and Instagram at @sparkle.network.