The Providence Public School District is currently collecting donations for Prom for All, a drive dedicated to collecting prom attire to be donated to Providence public school students. Since the campaign started on Feb. 1, the district has received approximately 110 donations.
Last year, PPSD Family and Community Engagement Parent Specialist Milou Rodrigues visited a school that was looking for prom dress donations. Rodrigues turned to Facebook, and the community showed up — donating about 100 dresses that Rodrigues divided between two schools.
This year, the Prom for All campaign was officially launched, and is currently aiming to receive 300 donations. While the drive was initially scheduled to end March 15, the timeline was extended to April 10 due to the recent snowstorm.
“It’s a really homegrown initiative,” said Jael Lopes, PPSD director of strategic community partnerships. “We all remember how expensive prom can be, and the Family Engagement Office really is here to support families, but also our students,” she added.
The program offers “just a little bit of … help for any student who’s deciding how to spend their savings,” Lopes said.
Along with a committee of community leaders, Rodrigues and Lopes helped formalize the drive this year. Donations — which have included suits, accessories, shoes and flowers — have been “pretty frequent,” Rodrigues said.
The team has also partnered with local business leaders to help students decide what to purchase now that they don’t have to pay for some of the largest prom-related expenses, such as makeup.
“They have to pay for tickets. They have to pay for a ride to the prom and pictures and all of that,” Lopes said. “This is our way of contributing just a little bit so that they feel that they can really enjoy the day without the stressors of not having the financial aspect play into it.”
To determine how items are distributed, the organizers will work with school counselors throughout the district. Some beneficiaries will include students covered by the McKinney-Vento Act, which provides support for students facing homelessness. The organizers will determine a day where students can come to pick out outfits before wearing them to prom.
“We want to make this as successful as possible,” Lopes said, also noting that they want “to make sure that students don’t feel ashamed about potentially getting a donation.”
Rodrigues added that in an effort to ensure students feel comfortable receiving donations, they plan for community members that students are familiar with to help distribute the materials.
Prom for All is not the only initiative in Providence focused on providing prom attire to students. Over the past several years, the Providence Teacher’s Union has organized Providence Princess, a similar effort helping more students have access to prom clothes.
The University received a request from the PPSD to contribute to the Prom for All efforts, according to Wendy Wallace, the director of civic engagement at Brown.
Since then, the University has established three donation collection locations — 225 Dyer St., 2 Simpson Ave. and the Pizzitola Sports Center — and has aimed to spread information about the drive.
The University’s involvement with Prom for All is connected to the Brown Loves Providence campaign, which Wallace described as “an effort to show our love and appreciation back to our neighbors, small businesses (and) nonprofit owners.”
Wallace hopes Prom For All will ensure that the prom can be a positive occasion for all students.
“Prom is a special time for students,” she said. “So us being able to contribute to their experience and make it memorable for them is one way I definitely envision us supporting students.”
