Photo supplied by Terrier National Volunteers
TAMPA, Fla. – The Hillsborough High School Prom Project helped students prepare for their prom by offering free dresses, shoes, jewelry, purses, makeup, and men’s suits, vests, shoes, and accessories.
Alumni from the Terrier Nation Volunteers group helped the students choose their clothes and accessories for the May 11 event.
They were able to select hundreds of donated items in a classroom at the school, 5000 N. Central Ave., which was turned into a boutique shop manned by alumni volunteers and some students.
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This is the first year of the Prom Project, an extension of the school’s clothes closet, available to help students in need.
The Prom Project chair, Debbie A. Sipley Medina, worked closely with school social worker Essie Giraud to organize the project. They built a team of volunteers to collect items from alumni, school staff, family members, clothing stores, and others who had heard about the project.
Student shoppers were able to try on the clothes, and then the volunteers helped them match shoes, purses, jewelry, and other items. The selections were carefully bagged and went home with smiling students – all at no cost.
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A number of pieces of clothing and accessories remained following the May 4 distribution date. They will be stored, and the volunteers plan to reopen the boutique in the fall for the homecoming dance and next spring for the prom in 2025.
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