Prom is one of the biggest dances of the year. Students going to prom need shoes, accessories and a dress or suit to wear, and those suits and dresses cost a lot: they can range from $100 to $500. Evergreen High School’s National Honor Society (NHS) hosts the Cinderella Project, a prom dress donation and recycling program, every year. It aims to bring low-priced prom dresses and suits to students who are going to prom but maybe do not have the money or do not want to spend so much.

“Last year we saved our community around $15,000 in prom dress expenses, and we’re looking to save our community, even more, this year,” says Evergreen’s NHS advisor, Jeremiah Jessey.

Evergreen’s NHS partners with a lot of high schools: Skyview, Fort Vancouver, Camas, Mountain View, Columbia River, Hudson’s Bay, Battle Ground, Heritage, Prairie, and Union High Schools. The NHS clubs from these schools help to collect dresses, jackets, shoes, accessories and plan the event.

The first part of the Cinderella Project is the collection of attire. If CHS students want to donate they can bring items to room 410 before school. The project was set to end Friday, March 1, but students could contact the CHS adviser, Lindsay Inzalaco, if they have a donation after that. Students who donate a dress get a coupon for another dress that can be redeemed at the event. For non-coupon holders, dresses can be purchased for only $10 each.  

The second part of the event is the day that people try on and buy the attire. This will happen on March 23rd from 10 am to 2 pm at Evergreen High School.  Inzalaco, says, “They try to make it really fun so they try to bring in hairstylists and music and they set up dressing rooms so when you go to the event it feels like this fun and exciting thing. They actually have people who dress up as princesses as well.”

This prom dress donation/recycling program provides students with opportunities to go to prom, a chance to go to an event that they may have not gone to without a low-priced dress. “I think it’s amazing that this project provides this opportunity for so many people, ” says Junior Sierra Mellor.

Overall, the Cinderella Project provides low-priced dresses, saves the community money and gives people the opportunity to dress up and go to prom.