Eng 1101 - Princess for a Day
Savanna Callahan
English 1101
Prof. Mathew
19 November 2012
Princess for a Day
Freshmen dream about it, sophomores pine after it, juniors are envious of it. Prom is a rite of passage for most senior girls. It is something always remembered, and something you talk about to your children. Next to a girl’s wedding day, prom is one of the most anticipated events. Girls spend months looking for the perfect dress and shoe combination that will dazzle their date and anyone else looking. Though, all the preparations associated with making your prom so special, are extremely pricey. The average family spends nearly $1,078 on prom (Azuz). With expenses of this size, it is nearly impossible for families, living on food stamps, to pay for the “prom experience.”
The average poverty rate among U.S. schools is 19 percent (What). That’s three times the population of Colorado. The average family of four living on food stamps receives only $731 per month (Milam), meaning they only have $4.23 a day for food and other basic necessities. (SNAP) When a meager $4.23 is given for basic necessities like food and water, prom becomes petty next to other needs.
To assist in aiding impoverished girls, foundations such as Enchanted Closet and Becca’s Closet, and been created to ease the cost burden of prom. Every year, Enchanted Closet conducts a dress drive in Atlanta to collect new and gently worn prom dresses for girls in need of a prom dress. They have expanded their foundation to professional outfits, so girls can go for interviews and better their income situation. Enchanted Closet also offers workshops for girls who are trying to better themselves. The workshops address how to present oneself in an interview (Our). Becca’s Closet is a foundation based out of Florida that has spilled into Georgia. The foundation offers not only dresses to girls that can’t afford prom, but also scholarships to some of the applicants to the foundation (Welcome). Both foundations offer dresses for girls who can’t afford them, but what about the other expenses? On their prom night, girls want to be the princess. They want to be the center of attention, but just a dress won’t do that for them. The girls also need hair, makeup, and nail services offered to them.
According to Prom Guide, prom expenses are broken up into five different categories. There is the dress, that can range anywhere from $200 to $400. Hair, makeup, and nails can range from $30 to $275. Then there is the travel; a limousine rental can range from $200 to $500. Dinner, a far cry from the $4.23, can range from $20 to $130 per person. Finally, there are the tickets to the actual prom, which range from $20 to $250 (How). If all costs were at their lowest, a family on food stamp would have to starve themselves for 111 days to pay for prom.
To aid families in sending their child to prom on a low income, I would like to create a foundation called “Princess for a day.” This foundation will allow girls living in low-income families to truly be princesses for prom. Instead of only offering girls dresses for free, my foundation will offer shoes, makeup, hair styling, and nails.
In Georgia alone, there are nearly 300,000 children living in extreme poverty (Children). Like Becca’s Closet, my foundation will reach out to children in Georgia initially, and eventually expand to other states. The ultimate goal of my foundation is to spread the word about the expenses of prom and the poverty rate in schools enough that we can touch all children in the United States. When interviewing local businesses, I found them receptive to offering their services to girls in need.
When surveyed 7 out of 12 businesses were willing to donate some kind of service to my foundation. D&D Nails was willing to donate four to five pedicures and manicures. USA Nails offered three pedicures and Big Apple Nails was willing to do two acrylic full sets and four to five pedicures. A total of $368 to $430 donated just in nails. This means that nearly six to seven girls can get a manicure and 11 to 13 girls can get a pedicure all for free. For hair, Beverly’s Day Spa offered an hour per worker. Color Xpert offered six to seven hours and Great Clips offered two up-dos. This amounts to $1,160 to $1,220 donated, meaning 20 to 21 girls would be able to have their hair done for prom totally free. Finally, for makeup, Mary Kay offered to donate one item per every item bought. A Mary Kay agent can sell anywhere from 10 to 200 items per week. This means nearly $1,000 in makeup donated and anywhere from 10 to 50 girls helped.
Each year, Woodstock High School holds a dress and shoe drive, where girls can donate their old prom dresses and shoes to the school and the school donates all these dresses to Goodwill. When Principal William Sebring was contacted, it was agreed the donated dresses and shoes would go to Princess for a Day and the foundation could use the cafeteria as storage for all the donated items. Girls wanting to receive service will have to go through an application and interview process due to limited items. Once the girls have been chosen, they will go to Woodstock High School’s cafeteria where they can choose a dress and a pair of shoes. Each girl will then receive vouchers for the donated services. All the foundation will ask in return is a picture of the girl on the day of her prom.