Betty makes prom dreams come true for hundreds of girls!
Every young woman deserves to have a magical time at her prom. Once upon a time, Betty Vitale’s daughter, Tammi, did. So when Betty learned many girls in her community couldn’t afford gowns, she was inspired to make their dreams come true . . .
Walking into her daughter’s room, Betty Vitale took a deep breath and tried to hold back her tears.
Once in a while, if she caught the air just right, she could still smell Design, the perfume Tammi had worn. And seeing Tammi’s blue and white gown with its tiers of ruffles in the closet, she recalled her daughter’s radiant smile that night; how she’d had a manicure, even though she’d planned to wear gloves; the way she’d come home and they’d talked for hours about how magical it had been, dancing beneath the lights with her date, Bobby.
“Someday, I hope I have a daughter who tells me all about her prom,” Tammi had said.
But Tammi would never get that chance— and Betty felt as though her heart would be forever broken.
Oh, Tammi, the Amesbury, Massachusetts, mom wept. How will I go on without you?
Becoming a fairy godmother
Months earlier, 19-year-old Tammi had been driving home from work when she hit a patch of black ice, losing control of her car and slamming headon into a tractor trailer.
Receiving the horrifying news first, Betty’s ex-husband went to her house.
“Tammi was in a car accident,” he blurted. “Is she okay?” Betty gasped. He looked down. “She didn’t make it . . .” Betty collapsed in his arms. Tammi had recently started a new job. She’d just fallen in love! She was my baby and my best friend, Betty sobbed.
As years passed, grief continued to weigh Betty down. Often she’d go into Tammi’s room, longing to feel her presence.
To ease her devastation, Betty decided to do something to honor Tammi’s memory. Tammi’s favorite charity had always been the Make-a-wish Foundation. So Betty held a fundraiser with food and raffles. It was such a success, Betty did it again the following year. Then, the next spring, Betty learned that Tammi’s old high school was holding a prom dress drive for students in need. How heartbreaking that any girl would miss her prom because her family couldn’t afford a dress! Betty thought. And she found herself considering Tammi’s dress.
Honestly, Betty wasn’t sure she could let it go. But she could hear Tammi’s voice saying, “Do it, Mom. Every girl deserves to go to her prom.”
The day she donated Tammi’s dress, Betty cried the whole drive back home. Still, she knew Tammi would have been proud. And after learning how a teen named Christine had fallen in love with the dress the moment she saw it, Betty was so convinced she had done the right thing that she started Tammi’s Closet, a nonprofit to donate lovingly worn prom dresses to girls who could not otherwise afford one.
Prom dreams come true
As Betty spread the word on Facebook, donations began pouring in and a local church offered its basement to set up a “dress shop.”
That first year, Tammi’s Closet gave dresses to 17 girls— girls like Cheri, whose family had recently lost their home.
It was hard enough, having to move in with her grandma. There just wasn’t the money to buy a gown. So when Cheri saw a gorgeous lime green gown, her eyes grew wide.
“I feel like a princess!” she beamed, twirling at the mirror.
Hannah Locke’s parents were three months behind on rent and just had nothing extra for a prom dress.
Then her uncle heard about Tammi’s Closet. And when she visited, Hannah gasped, “Look at that red sequined gown!”
After both her parents were laid off, Mckenzie didn’t think she could go to the prom—but Betty not only helped her find a dark blue gown she adored, she also rented Mckenzie’s boyfriend a tuxedo! Amanda Martin was crowned Junior Prom Queen in her sparkling strapless royal blue gown from Tammi’s Closet. And Abby, who fell in love with the first dress she tried on— a white and purple gown—sang “I love this!” as she hugged Betty.
To date, Betty has helped more than 500 girls go to the prom, including donating jewelry and hair and makeup services.
“I’ve had many moms say, ‘It was either pay the rent or let my daughter go to prom. Because of you, I can do both!’” Betty beams. “Prom is one of the most exciting events in a girl’s life. So I ask Tammi to shine on the girls on their special night, the way she is always shining in my heart, and to know she is smiling down from Heaven . . . it makes me smile, too!”
— Kristin Higson-hughes