Dreams come true for prom-goers
Published: March 20, 2006
If high school proms rolled out red carpets, Academy Award-style, Alena Pukhareva would be ready. The petite 17-year-old Fort Vancouver High School student stood glowing in a golden, sparkly beaded, spaghetti-strap, full-length gown. Her smile could rival Nicole Kidman’s. Her eyes couldn’t have shone more brightly if paparazzi bulbs were flashing nonstop.
Except this wasn’t Hollywood. Pukhareva was one of hundreds of teenage girls crowding into two big rooms at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in Vancouver. Instead of bleachers full of star-struck fans, the young women were surrounded by a stage, pep signs, basketball hoops and row upon row of prom-ready dresses. At an affordable price — 10 bucks.
Saturday was the kickoff for Operation Fairy Godmother, a three-day annual event organized by the Vancouver School District Foundation. Thanks to hundreds of volunteers and sponsors, the event makes dream dresses available for all sorts of girls, no matter the realities of their financial situation. Girls with vouchers — given to low-income students and those who donate a dress to the event — were admitted early to shop for a free dress. At noon, doors opened to all Clark County high school students who wanted to buy a promworthy dress for only $10.
A little after noon, girls were swarming the room where rows of rolling racks held dresses in sizes from 0 to 24: pink lace frocks; gleaming silky sheaths; lustrous velvet gowns; beads, sequins and sparkles adorning dresses in eggplant purple, daffodil yellow, brilliant fuchsia, emerald green and fire-engine red. Girls waited patiently in line to try on their choices in impromptu dressing rooms — cubicles made of PVC pipe and black plastic, set up along the walls of the gymnasium.
Once they found a dress, they waited patiently some more, to have their hair done and makeup applied, alterations made, or their photo taken. In between, they wandered around in fitted satiny princess gowns, their hair in messy ponytails and their feet in sport socks.
Alexandra Adams donated a dress and found another — a metallic silvery number with a fitted, side-laced top and layered chiffon skirt. She liked this dress, the 14-year-old said, “because it fits.” And, her mother Andrea Salazar, 49, added, “It’s not too revealing.” Alexandra figured she could wear the dress for school dances, which she attends with friends. “The fun part is seeing yourself looking nice,” she said.
Krystal Taylor, 18, found a lilac silky gown perfect for the prom, which she’ll be attending with her fiance. Felicia Jefferies, 17, was also looking forward to her school prom this spring. And she was dressed for it, in a midnight-blue sleeveless gown with beaded bodice. “I don’t know,” she said with a shy smile. “It just makes me feel like a princess.”
Cathy Sork, associate principal at Fort Vancouver High School, said Operation Fairy Godmother is a dream come true for girls at her school, which has a high number of low-income students. “This just takes a kid who didn’t think this was going to be an option for her, and makes it possible,” Sork said.
Cathy’s father, Jim Sork, is executive director of the Vancouver School District Foundation. He said that in this third year of Operation Fairy Godmother, the foundation took in nearly 1,600 donated dresses and expected to attract 800 to 1,000 girls. “Girls were standing in line outside at 7 a.m. this morning,” he said, “and we opened at 10.” The sale will continue Monday and Tuesday, from 3 to 8 p.m.
At the makeup chairs, Alena Pukhareva and her sister, Tatyana, 16, were getting light dustings of powder and blush. Alena’s smile was even bigger than before. “I like it,” she said, simply, glowing from her rosy cheeks down to her sparkly shoes — the perfect accessory for any Cinderella looking forward to a ball.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: