Nikole Babb
nbabb@cherryroad.com
Dresses available for all Butler County students
Two eighteen-year-old, Gracie Cook of Andover High School, and Julia Smith of Andover Central High School, are teaming up to continue the free prom dress drive that started last year. The two young ladies’ hopes are to beat last year’s record by giving away over 500 dresses this year to young women and girls attending prom that otherwise may not have the opportunity.
The two Andover Public School students refer to themselves as friends who may not have otherwise bonded due to a difference in lifestyles. Cook says she has been focused on being an educator throughout her schooling when she decided to attend Andover Center for Advanced Professional Studies, (CAPS), to learn about business in addition to education.
“I’m part of the create side of CAPS because I want to go into education,” said Cook. “We chose to do the dress drive as a trial of running our own business because everything that goes into it is what you need in an actual business.”
Smith has been a cheerleader since she was in 7th grade and hopes to continue that in college through an athletic scholarship as she studies general business. The two friends bonded at Andover CAPS through business classes and chose to continue the prom dress drive.
Through community and business donations, prom dresses will be available for any young woman or girl to choose from. All dresses will be provided for those who attend free of charge with bathroom space available for try-on. The two seniors have also put together a photo backdrop with cards to hold that say “I said yes to the dress”, for photo opportunities.
Giving away the dresses with a store experience allows all women and girls to attend prom without the financial obstacles.
Sizes from 0-32 are available in all colors of the rainbow in short and floor length. There were 200 dresses left over from last year’s collection of 500 and 22 new dresses collected this year so far.
Dresses will be available to shop on March 6 from 4-8pm and March 8 from 9am-3pm at Andover CAPS located at 1401 W. 13th St in Andover. Donations can be made to the drive by taking them to Andover CAPS during school hours or by calling the front office at 316-218-4640 to schedule a drop-off. The drive can be followed on Instagram by searching @andover_dress_drive.
