Satin and Swirls

One springtime ritual for many teenage girls is the search for the perfect prom dress. But for some the pricetags can be prohibitive. To counter that problem, the Vancouver School District Foundation, in Washington, gave local high-school girls the opportunity in March to peruse more than 500 donated prom dresses, offered for the bargain price of $10 each.

The first of what is intended to be an annual event, Operation Fairy Godmother was the brainchild of a Vancouver high-school student who had worked at the nonprofit group’s thrift shop. In Vancouver, 32 percent of all high-school students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches based on their family’s income. Similar prom-dress projects have sprung up elsewhere in the United States and Canada.

The Vancouver group initially asked girls at the district’s six high schools to donate their old prom dresses. But once word got out about the effort through stories in the news media, dresses started arriving from residents throughout the area, says Jan Redding, the charity’s assistant director. People also donated formal shoes, jewelry, and other accessories for the project.

Ms. Redding says donors liked the idea that their old dresses could bring happiness to new wearers. “Most women have great memories of a dance from high school,” she says. “It was a very touching experience for everyone involved.”

One donated dress, worn to a prom in 1961, was scooped up by a high-school junior. When the original owner saw a photograph in a local newspaper of the girl in her old dress, “it brought tears to her eyes,” says Ms. Redding.

The Vancouver School District Foundation, founded in 1988, reported assets of nearly $1.5-million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003. The foundation receives most of its donations from local residents.

Here, Ashley Spencer, a junior at Hudson’s Bay High School, chooses jewelry to go with a dress she found as part of Operation Fairy Godmother.