Potential prom queens from around the area ventured to Asbury Park Thursday to find the dress of their dreams at the Charity Kings-sponsored “Wish Upon a Prom” event.
The event invites young ladies to choose complimentary formal wear and accessories for the prom.
The charity group amassed a collection of over 600 dresses and several hundred accessories for the young ladies to choose from, donated from private citizens and companies from the local area, Philadelphia and New York, according to Charity Kings President Darryl Hammary.
The dressed were displayed on several store racks donated from Marshalls at the Asbury Park Veterans of Foreign Wars building on Lake Avenue, veritably transforming it into a department store-like dress shop. After each young lady found and tested the fit of her dress and selected her accessories, volunteers from Mary Kay did their makeup and a professional photographer took their picture.
Event organizer Sherrice Lyles, 26, Asbury Park, has volunteered for previous Charity Kings events in the past, including painting children’s faces at the group’s annual “Family Day” event held at the Hammary Courts, but wanted to do more. After she realized there weren’t too may dress drives in the area, she reached out to the local volunteer group to see if they would help her organize one, she said.
“We’re always doing stuff for boys — baseball camps, basketball, soccer, you name it, but [Lyles] said we have to do something for the girls,” said Hammary. “We drove to Pennsylvania for dresses, to Hempstead, NY. There was a lot of love put into this right here.”
The event helps to ease the financial burden put on parents during prom season, which allows more girls who may not have otherwise attended the chance to attend the once-in-a-lifetime formal event, Lyles said.
Asbury Park High School [APHS] seniors Siana Portlock and Ontasia Stanton [shown at right, respectively] both found dresses that fit this year’s prom theme, “The Roaring Twenties/Great Gatsby,” which will be held at Shadowbrook Farms on May 29. Both serve on the prom committee.
Portlock chose a creme spaghetti strap dress with silver sparkles and a swooping back, and Stanton a blue strapped silk dress with crystal detail around the waistline.
“It’s not the first dress I picked up — but I saw the back of it and I had to try it on,” Portlock said.
“I knew I wanted to wear blue,” said Stanton, “it’s not my favorite dress, but I’m going to wear it with pride.”
Before this event, the closest place to go for a dress drive event was in Marlboro, according to APHS Senior Class Advisor Christine DeMarsico, who also teaches English at the school.
“It was just too far away, now that it is here we can get more kids to go to the prom,” she said. “Financial reasons hold some of them back, and everyone should go to the prom.”
Along the side wall of the VFW Hall, Mary Kay representative Carmen Wolfe [at left] showed the girls how to apply makeup, and what colors might complement their dresses.
“They are loving it — and they are letting me do whatever I want,” she said with a smile. Wolfe also donated a free facial to be raffled off for one winner and three of her friends.
“This is a beautiful event for the youth in the community,” said volunteer Duanne Small. “It goes to show that when the community comes together, what the positive effects of that togetherness are.”
Students, parents, guardians and their siblings also enjoyed light refreshments, food platters and non alcoholic beverages donated by local businesses and community leaders. The International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, a community-based, masonic nonprofit organization, also donated their time to help run the event, ushering girls to the entrance and serving food at the event. The group also contributed picking the dresses up prior to the event.
“It’s a total success,” said District Eight Grand Master Donald Hammary, Jr. “It just gives them that self-esteem boost to pick their dress and accessories and have their makeup done and their picture taken — they are calling their friends and telling them to come down here.”
Board of Education President Geneva Smallwood, who spent the first half of the three-hour event manning the fitting room, said over 175 girls had come through the fitting room, some from Asbury Park, others from Neptune and Long Branch and other locations.
“It’s really good, it so nice for them to attend the prom,” she said, “and they really should attend.”
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