A dressed to thrill promotion
Teens flock to Heights for fancy ‘free’ frocks
Bianca, a high school senior, giggles with her friends as they huddle around the full-length mirror, taking turns to admire their chosen prom gowns.
The 18-year-old gushes over the black dress she picked for her senior prom in June, smoothing out the relaxed tulle skirt adorned with tiny stars, which she describes excitedly as having a “2000s vibe.” The best part? It’s free. “Prom dresses can range from $300 to $600, sometimes $1,000, and nobody has money for that,” Bianca told The Post while attending the Prom Clothing Giveaway in Washington Heights.
Coupled with the cost of hair, makeup, jewelry and shoes, the rite of passage comes at a staggering price for just one night.
But at the Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center last Saturday, clothing was offered free of charge thanks to Operation Prom, a nonprofit that collects thousands of donations for formal attire and gives them away to prom-bound students.
‘Faces light up’
“It’s awesome for all the kids that don’t have the opportunity to get,” Griselda Ramirez, 41, told The Post while helping her 17-year-old son, Israel Martinez, find the perfect suit and tie to match his date’s royal blue dress.
Hoards of students combed through racks of gowns and suit jackets, admiring the jewelry and towers of shoes on tables.
“I love it because I see so many gorgeous girls walking around in their gorgeous dresses feeling confident, and the heels and the accessories,” Bianca said. “I feel like it’s so inclusive and helpful for the community of the girls who can’t afford to get prom dresses or the girls who want to get prom dresses but can’t.”
This year, Operation Prom received an estimated 5,000 dresses in New York alone, giving away 115 items during this weekend’s six-hour event. The organization, which has chapters across the nation, hosts giveaways in The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Westchester ahead of prom season.
Noel D’Allacco, who founded Operation Prom 20 years ago, said it’s the stories every year — like “hearing from students that they never even owned a dress, they never put on a dress, they don’t know what size they are” — that inspire her.
Bronx native KC, 14, shopped with her grandmother, who attempted to teach her how to walk in heels ahead of her eighth-grade prom. Alyssa, 14, was on the hunt for a pink dress, finding a coral satin number with the help of her mom.
As one high school girl emerged in a glittering gown, high school advocate counselor Jessenia Polanco led the cheers.
Polanco, who works for the Catholic Charities and brought a group of her students to the event, said many teens in the area are international, live in shelters or don’t have the means to purchase formal wear.
“I get excited . . . seeing their faces light up because they finally found something, especially if they’re underprivileged,” Polanco, 43, told The Post.
Altagracia Hiraldo, the founder and president of the Alianza Dominicana Community
Center, said parents are often moved to tears upon seeing their children in formal wear. “The family cannot afford those dresses,” she said.
The Operation Prom team is comprised of volunteers like Winifer Nunez, 20. “I always try to help them get what they want, to help them feel beautiful, because prom is a special day for them, so I really like to help them feel special,” she said.