Princess and the Prom Dress Drive Under Way

If there is one night in a girl's life that she looks forward to for years, it's prom night. The glitz, the glamour and of course, the perfect dress.

But, for many high school girls across the state, buying a prom dress can be a struggle.  Enter the Granby-based charitable organization, Princess & the Prom. 

It began as a high school service project for six mother-daughter teams, including Granby residents Cheryle Podgorski and her daughter Lauren, who was then a junior at Granby Memorial High School. It has been transformed into a three-day dress giveaway at the Hilton Garden Inn in Windsor. 

“We are serving a big need,” said Podgorski, who is president of the organization. “If we can help provide the dress that has been sitting in someone’s closet, and it lets you get your hair done, I’m all for it.”

The first year, Podgorski said almost 400 dresses were collected, and 100 girls were able to take home a new or nearly new prom dress.  

“It was way above what we expected,” Podgorski said. “Every year it gets better and better.”

Last year, the number of girls who were able to take home a dress skyrocketed to 500, and they were able to choose from about 2,000 dresses in four ballrooms at the hotel. Podgorski said about 80 towns were represented at the drive, from as far away as Bridgeport and Waterbury. 

“We try to make it special because for some girls, it is their first really nice dress,” she said. 

This year, the event will take place at the hotel on Day Hill Road from March 25 to 27. Podgorski said about 250 volunteers will help to host the event, and hope to help 600 girls over the course of the three days.

“Everybody that volunteers wants to do it again and again,” she said. 

Each girl in attendance is given a “personal shopper” to help her pick the perfect dress, as well as accessories for the special event. All  the dresses, as well as the accessories, are given away without charge. 

The dresses that are collected are stored and cleaned by Best Cleaners, which has been a sponsor for the organization for the past three years. Before the sponsorship Podgorski said all of the dresses were kept in her home. 

“They clean them, store them all year round for us and drive them to the Hilton in three to four vans,” she said.  “They are a bunch of great people.”

For more information on donating or the event, visit the Princess & the Prom Web site. Dresses may be dropped off at any of the 11 Best Cleaners locations in Connecticut, as well as at YMCAs in the area until March 15. In Granby, that includes the Farmington Valley YMCA on Salmon Brook Street.

But remember, pre-registration is mandatory in order to attend the event.