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Before Abby left for college, she cleaned out her bedroom closet, and found a number of formal dresses that she had worn to various high school events, including the beautiful pink gown that she wore to her junior prom. As you can imagine, this brought back many wonderful memories of this special high school event. It is a night that most girls look forward to their entire life.
“I have three older brothers, and I didn't want to give the dress to the Goodwill because I didn't want some guy to buy it and wear it for Halloween.” So Abby talked to her mother, Sally, to see whether there was a way to give the dress to another girl. Her mother had heard
about groups in other cities that collected and distributed prom
dresses to girls who couldn't afford them, but when she checked
around Portland she found nothing. So, she and Abby started Abby's Closet, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes prom dresses, free of charge, to girls who might otherwise be unable to attend their high school prom due to the cost of a dress.
“We were so excited to think that another young girl would have the opportunity to wear and enjoy Abby's beautiful pink prom dress for
one of the most memorable nights of her life.”
Prom is about glamour, the night when every girl is a princess, but a retail prom dress can be expensive, and for some, unattainable.
To get a dress from Abby’s Closet, all a girl has to do is show a high school identification card.
Abby started asking friends to donate prom dresses. “The first year
we ended up with 500 gowns in my garage, and a hotel donated space to hold an event to give them away.” The annual event has grown to two-day give-away at the Oregon Convention Center.
In 2007, Abby’s Closet collected 3,592 gowns!
During the year, volunteers collect dresses that have been cleaned
and are ready to wear again, and hold them in a storage unit.
The days of the event, 30 or more volunteers help girls of all shapes and backgrounds, that come from schools within a 150 mile radius of Portland to find the perfect dress.
“It's just a dress— A few yards of limp fabric on a hanger. You can
take the finest, most expensive silk ever spun and there's still no
life or magic to it. What a dress always needs is a girl. A girl in a
dress takes a father's breath away. He turns from the television when his daughter walks into the room and is struck by how quickly the
years have slipped away, gone in a heartbeat when he wasn't paying attention to all the changes. A girl in a dress stands before her
mother and they realize, despite all those arguments over messy rooms and dirty dishes, that they share a bond that doesn't need
to be expressed in words, only in a glance that says "We're alike.
" A girl in a dress stands before a mirror and sees her past and her future, the girl she is and the woman she will become.”
*from the Oregonian 4-7-08 by Tom Hallman Jr.
You can visit Abby’s Closet at:
p.o. box 1771 | hillsboro oregon 97123
503.681.2527