Women's Service League hosts annual prom dress giveaway

WENATCHEE – This weekend, area teens, regardless of income, will have the chance to pick out the prom dress of their dreams for free, thanks to the Women's Service League of North Central Washington.

The Women's Service League of NCW (WSL) will hold its annual Prom Dress Giveaway on Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wenatchee Valley Mall near Sportsman's Warehouse. 

Throughout the year WSL members have collected hundreds of new and gently used prom dresses. WSL members will be on hand to help girls pick out a dress and seamstresses will be on site to do minor adjustments to hems and straps. 

Nicole Germain, a WSL member and chair of the Prom Dress Committee, said the event is twofold. Girls can find a dress for the special occasion without the big price tag and it's a way to reuse dresses that just end up sitting in the closet.

"Like, how can we give back to the community again, regardless of income, you can get a free dress for prom and feel special and love what you're wearing and not be worried about the price tag of it," she said. "But also like, we have lots of women, teenagers have these dresses sitting in a closet that might sit there for a while." 

"So how do we repurpose that so that it's not just sitting there, you know, taking up space, and not just being like thrown away or going to somewhere it's not going to use so, you know, we kind of thought let's set up this amazing event and be a piece of the community that's missing." 

WSL has been collecting and giving away prom dresses for more than ten years.

"Obviously Women's Service League is very much about helping women and children," she said. "And this very much falls in line with that vision and mission and again, we don't care about your income. Please come get a dress and feel beautiful at prom."

Germain said thousands of dresses in various sizes, colors, and styles will be available, as will some shoes and accessories. 

Local businesses have donated raffle items for hair, photos, and nails to complete the prom experience.

The event is free and open to all high school students around North Central Washington. Students must show their Student ID to be admitted into the event. 

If anyone wants to donate dresses, they can be dropped off at Banner Bank in Wenatchee by Friday, March 22.

For WSL members, one of the best parts of the event is seeing the joy when attendees find their dress.

"When the girl finds that dress and they're just so excited, especially if they've gone through a couple of different ones and they're just not finding it," she said. "And that smile on their face. They're like, 'Yay, I found my dress'. It's just so exciting to see and that we get to give these out for free, like how much better is that?" 

Last year, the group gave out 253 free dresses. Girls came from all over NCW, including Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Cashmere, Chelan, Leavenworth, Entiat, Pateros, Bridgeport, Brewster, Omak, Oroville, Omak, Liberty Bell, Quincy, Ephrata, Moses Lake, Waterville, and Mansfield.

The Women's Service League of NCW builds community through the empowerment of women and deliberate volunteer action. WSL was founded in 2008 as the Junior Service League of Wenatchee, but changed its name to reflect its vision of service throughout the NCW Region. For more information, visit wslncw.org.

Quinn Propst: 509-731-3590 or quinn@ward.media.