Princess at the Prom gown drive begins

TORRINGTON — Princess at the Prom, a collection drive for prom dresses, started this month in Torrington for girls who can’t afford a dress of their own.

As of Tuesday, about a dozen dresses have been donated. The collection ends March 31.

Mary Kilmer, owner of Maria Christine’s Bridals, joined forces with Sal Barrante, owner of Barrante’s Cleaners, and Guy Santoro, owner of Santoro’s Cleaners to provide dresses for the upcoming prom season.

“We are looking for trendy, gently used prom dresses,” Kilmer said. “We’ll take all sizes, all colors, anything at all. We all thought it was a good idea.

“I would love to get 50 gowns — that would be wonderful,” she said. “If 10 or 12 girls signed up to get one, that would be great too.”

The average price of a prom gown ranges from $200 to $425, and at Maria Christine’s, gowns run from $275 to $300. When Kilmer began to form her Princess at the Prom idea, she spoke with town officials including Mayor Elinor Carbone, and learned the city’s shelters house families with teens.

“There are a lot of teens in the shelters, and if the parents can’t help them, they can’t go to prom,” Kilmer said. “It’s very sad. These kids are attending local schools, and they can’t go . ... We felt bad for them.”

She distributed fliers to Torrington High School and Oliver Wolcott Tech and put the information on her shop’s Facebook page. So far, she said, Santoro’s has cleaned a number of dresses, and there is still plenty of time to make a donation.

Kilmer’s sister, Christine Kapcho, of Torrington, who helps at the shop, will join her on shopping day in April to help pick out dresses. The shopping day will be held at Kilmer’s store on East Pearl Street.

“It’s going to be as-needed only,” Kilmer said. “I want it to be special; for them to come into the shop, have muffins or cookies and a cup of tea, and make it a nice day for them. I don’t want them to feel afraid; I want them to feel welcome.”

If Princess at the Prom is a success, she will do it again next year, Kilmer said.

“It’s our first time doing this, so we’ll have it here, but as I progress, and do this year after year, hopefully, maybe we can use Coe Memorial Park (Civic Center) for a few hours and do the shopping day there. But for now, I’ll close the shop to the public on April 7 and open it up, just for the girls,” Kilmer said.

Junior and senior high school girls can become eligible to receive a dress by emailing a referral from a guidance counselor, teacher, religious organization or social service organization, to mcbridal1@yahoo.com by April 1.

On shopping day, each girl must provide a student ID and be accompanied by a parent or guardian. After choosing her dress, each girl is asked to make a small monetary donation to benefit Carl Bozenski’s Christmas Village. All the donations will be made at the annual Christmas Village Toy Shower in December, and used to purchase toys for the hundreds of children who visit the village every year.

“If they are able to make a donation, it’ll come full circle, but if they can’t, that’s fine, too,” Kilmer said.

Anyone with an unused gown in their closet is encouraged to bring it to Santoro’s at 462 Torringford West St., Maria Chrstine’s Bridals at 243 East Pearl St., or Barrante’s at 372 Main St. The cleaners will clean each dress for free.