Dress Day, one of our most important events of the year, is also the busiest, craziest, and most exciting. In a single day, we serve about forty teenage girls, pairing them with a volunteer for an individualized “shopping” experience as they search among hundreds of sparkly prom dresses for The One. At the end of the day, each girl leaves with a smile on her face, along with a reservation for her prom dress (to be shipped to the dry cleaners first, then given to the recipient to keep).
Before all the magic, though, a lot has to happen to make Dress Day a reality, much less a success. Our tiny staff inventories the dresses in advance, organizing them according to size, then color. Because we don’t have an actual warehouse yet, we come to the girls’ school, packing our dresses stack by stack into our cars and transporting them with portable dress racks. Then we set them up in the order we had them originally. Meanwhile, someone’s got to get the food and the music. Don’t forget the mirrors, either (we’re doomed without a full-length mirror). Then, when it’s all said and done: pack up.
In other words, we need to hustle. And this year, we need to hustle more than ever, because prom season is early (March), and Dress Day is quickly approaching on Saturday, February 5. We’re putting out an APB for volunteers, people who can help us with setup, breakdown, sign-in sheets, and of course, shopping with the girls. We work in shifts, so you don’t have to be there the entire day. Plus, free snacks will be provided. Best of all: it’s fun! If interested, please email Bee at Bee.Nguyen@athenaswarehouse.org.
Can’t donate your time? Consider donating your dresses. Check out our new donate page for dress guidelines.
