Ahlf Junior High School English teacher Sara Dacus and school committee coordinator Betsy Bailey will host the second annual Prom Closet event on April 23.

According to Bailey, the program gives high school girls who are unable to pay for prom dresses, shoes or jewelry the opportunity to choose clothes donated by local women, as well as have their hair and makeup done the night of prom.

Bailey said that there have been at least 150 dresses and 25 pairs of shoes donated so far.

“We have community volunteers, some who have an interest in cosmetics and some who are professionally trained (helping do makeup for Prom Closet),” Bailey said.

According to Dacus, the idea for Prom Closet came after a friend in Junior Auxiliary of Searcy, a non-profit organization that encourages members to render charitable services which are beneficial to the public, suggested throwing all their dresses together and picking from them for the organization’s annual formal event.

“Prom is such a rite of passage and such a big part of the high school experience that we didn’t want money to be a hindrance to someone enjoying that,” Dacus said.

According to Bailey, other school districts in Arkansas hold programs like Prom Closet have grown over time.

“We’ve definitely grown from last year to this year,” Bailey said. “We’ve provided more dresses to girls this year, and we have more signed up for cosmetic services.”

Last year women’s social club Delta Nu volunteered to help Prom Closet as one of its service projects, according to senior Scarlet Schreiner, one of the club members who helped with the cosmetic services of Prom Closet.

“We all feel great on our prom day; it’s nice to feel pretty and dress up,” Schreiner said. “So it’s nice to see girls feel good about themselves and feel comfortable and get excited to take pictures.”

According to Bailey and Dacus, Prom Closet is still accepting donations and help in any way.

“(We will take) any volunteers on the day of, (and) we do accept gift cards to Wal-Mart or Walgreens to help purchase hair spray and makeup items,” Bailey said.

Dacus said they expect Prom Closet to grow every year.

“As long as we have students that are utilizing it, we’ll continue to do it,” Dacus said.

Dacus also said they are still in need of dresses sized 10-20 and costume jewelry. Any students who are interested in helping with Prom Closet can contact Dacus at sdacus@searcyschools.org or call 501-230-1910. Bailey can be reached at bbailey@searcyschools.org or at the administrative office at 801 North Elm St.