Donate Your Dresses to Project Prom

South Hills Interfaith Ministries is teaming up with Allegheny County's Department of Human Services to serve as a collection site for the 2012 Project Prom.  

Since 2003, Project Prom has given eligible high school students the opportunity to choose free formal attire from a selection of thousands of donated items.  SHIM will accept donations of formal attire Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its facility in Bethel Park located at 5301 Park Avenue. Donations will be accepted at SHIM through Tuesday, Feb. 28.   

“With the recovery from the recession still ongoing, we wanted to be a resource for struggling families with teenagers to be able to enjoy one of the passages of a young person’s life,” stated Jim Guffey, Executive Director of SHIM. “Undoubtedly there are a great number of young people in the South Hills who have gowns and formal wear in their closets that they may not wear again and now we are providing a convenient location to drop off and donate these items to someone in need.”

Clean, undamaged formal attire in current styles will be accepted. For young women the desired items are: formal gown, formal jewelry, formal purses, formal shoes, new hosiery and wraps. For young men the desired items are:  tuxedos, bow ties, cummerbunds, formal shoes, pocket squares, cuff links and new dress socks.

The Project Prom store will be located at the Century III Mall, 3075 Clairton Road, West Mifflin, PA 15123 on the third level beginning Tuesday, March 6 through Saturday, March 10. The location is equipped with dressing rooms and staffed with personal shoppers.

When the gown giveaway is completed, formalwear is made available for public sale to raise funds to purchase tuxedo rental gift certificates and gowns in much-needed sizes. The success of Project Prom rests on the generosity of donors, both individuals and retail stores, who contribute to the project.

Any high school student in Allegheny County who is receiving services or has a family member receiving services through the Allegheny County DHS (Office of Intellectual Disability, Office of Children, Youth and Families, Office of Community Services, Office of Behavioral Health, and Area Agency on Aging) or any of the DHS network of 350 provider agencies is invited to participate in Project Prom. If you have questions regarding eligibility, please contact the event and donations team at 412-350-3428 or EventandDonationsTeam@AlleghenyCounty.us.

If you have questions, please contact SHIM at 412-854-9120 or visit www.shim-center.org.