Inaugural Race to the Prom dress giveaway helps Savannah-area teens realize prom dreams
Z’Kaiyah Gray draped a sparkling maroon column over one arm and held a black ruffled evening bag and a pair of black pumps in her free hand. Beneath a ball cap, she beamed as Beth Vantosh offered her a white bag stuffed with pink tissue that held makeup and a few baubles Gray had selected to go with her dress.
Gray, a senior at Beach High School, has a big spring ahead. She graduates soon and has been accepted to several colleges where she wants to study nursing. (She’s still deciding.) But she’s just found her prom dress – for free! – at the Race to the Prom pop-up shop set up in one half of Vantosh’s real estate offices on Bull Street.
“And today’s her birthday,” said Gray’s mom before they headed home.
The inaugural Savannah Race to the Prom dress giveaway is the brainchild of Carolina Braunschweig, a Savannah-Chatham middle school teacher who volunteered with San Francisco’s Princess Project in the past. When she moved to Savannah, she recognized that many students did not participate in winter dances, proms and other special occasions and rites of passage where they might need a cocktail dress or formal gown because the costs of buying a dress, shoes, accessories and getting their hair and makeup done exceeded their families’ budgets.
Braunschweig found sponsorship through the Savannah Jewish Federation’s Project Tov, a series of programs that address needs in the greater Savannah community, and in Vantosh, a friend she met through Chabbad of Savannah.
“She was telling me, ‘I need a space. I want it to be like a retail experience,’” recalled Vantosh, “and [my real estate office] had a pop-up shop going on for about a year hear. They were leaving, and it just worked out.”
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Hundreds of dresses donated to help teens realize prom dreams
“It's a prom dress giveaway for any Lowcountry teen on the hunt for a beautiful dress,” said Braunschweig, who marshalled volunteers from the Jewish Educational Alliance and other organizations to help as personal shoppers and style consultants for teens.
Each teen signs up for a one-hour shopping appointment and try on all the dresses, shoes and jewelry they want. They can take up to one ensemble home for free, but they are asked to donate a small amount, around $20, if they choose more than one dress.
The clothing racks donated by Emily Bargeron, the owner-designer behind Mamie Ruth, are bursting with gowns in all shapes, sizes, styles and colors, from bejeweled ballgowns fit for a princess and spaghetti-strapped ethereal A-lines layered with lace and tulle to a multi-colored chevron-patterned trumpet meant for someone with a bold personality who wants to get noticed.
Said Braunschweig, “Some girls want to look like a princess, some want sparkle and glam, some are looking for something more modest, and some are all about sexy.”
More than a hundred of the dresses came from the Princess Project in California. Some never-worn gowns still with their tags came from Kathi Rich Clothing. Savannah Rep supplied costumes while Vintage Vortex donated well-preserved gowns from yesteryear.
But most of the gently loved formals and worn-once bridesmaid dresses were donated from women’s closets throughout Savannah, said Braunschweig. “The poor reception staff at the JEA has been collecting for months!”
About 150-200 teens have shopped Race to the Prom since the doors opened on March 25. They’ve come from every high school in Chatham County, from Island to Beach to Woodville to Jenkins. “Girls attending the homeschoolers’ prom, from as far away as Statesboro, and even a girl from Isle of Hope getting ready for her first sixth-grade dance,” said Braunschweig.
“It's been a whole lot of fun. What's amazing is watching the girls sift through the racks, going through those hundreds of dresses, all of them so different, and finding the perfect one. Everyone looks beautiful.”
The Race to the Prom pop-up shop will be open through the weekend and into next week. More information is online at savj.org/race-to-the-prom.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Hundreds of formal dresses donated for Savannah's Race to the Prom giveaway
