With prom season only a few months away, Camryn Sullivan, a senior at Rye Neck High School, created The Prom Collective, an event that helps make prom more financially accessible for students.
girls find affordable dresses and accessories for their
upcoming prom nights at The Prom Collective, held on
March 25 at the Mamaroneck United Methodist Church.
On March 25, Sullivan held a four-hour shopping experience at Mamaroneck United Methodist Church that allowed girls in nearby Westchester communities to find their perfect prom outfit at an affordable price.
While Sullivan did not charge for the dresses and accessories, customers were encouraged to make a small donation to benefit the church.
“We were not expecting money but people felt like they wanted to contribute,” Sullivan told the Review.
Sullivan founded The Prom Collective as part of her school’s Independent Learner Program, an elective class offered at Rye Neck High School, requiring students to conceptualize and implement their own community service project.
Sullivan chose this project after recognizing that not all students are able to afford the ever-increasing costs of prom night.
“Prom [has gotten] so expensive over the years,” Sullivan said.
According to a nationwide survey conducted by Visa in 2015, families in the U.S. planned on spending more than $900 for prom night. Expenses typically range from purchasing a gown or tuxedo, event tickets, hair, makeup and nails, limousine rentals, as well as after-prom activities.
Sullivan wanted to relieve some of this financial burden, by offering girls the opportunity to pick out a dress, accessories and makeup for prom.
dresses available at The Prom Collective.
Photos/Andrew Dapolite
And the event went off better than expected according to Sullivan, who ended up receiving more dresses than she had originally anticipated. Sullivan said that she received donations from friends, church members and customers of her mother’s Larchmont-based store, Village Mercantile.
Clothing racks were filled with more than 50 gently used gowns in all styles, sizes and colors. Tables displayed a variety of necklaces, bracelets and earrings, as well as eye shadow palettes, lipsticks and purses.
Sullivan reported that by the end of the event more than half of the dresses donated had been taken home by shoppers.
Jailene Almonte-Valerio, a senior at Port Chester High School, held up a blue gown, one of the two dresses she had chosen to bring home with her. “This one just [caught] my eye,” she told the Review. “I like the back [and] the straps are really cute.”
The shoppers mostly consisted of girls in their senior year of high school that went into the event unsure of what they were looking for, but ended up leaving with a completed outfit.
Sullivan explained that in doing this project, she wanted to combine her two passions: giving back and helping people in need.
She said that to make The Prom Collective happen, she received assistance from her mother as well as Dr. Valerie Feit, her teacher from the Independent Learner Program, and Karen Burger, her pastor at Mamaroneck United Methodist Church.
Sullivan, who is attending the University of Rhode Island in the fall, says she hopes that the event will continue on in future years, even if that means passing down the responsibilities to another student.
Sullivan said that the collective donation made to the Mamaroneck United Methodist Church was just under $100, while numerous girls went home with a prom outfit they loved.
“I definitely felt as if the event was a success due to the fact that a majority of the dresses were taken and the girls seemed very happy with what they got,” she said.
