Hundreds of girls will have an opportunity to wear the dress of their dreams to their high school prom this year, thanks to Enchanted Closet.

Enchanted Closet is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization serving teenage girls from low-income households across metro Atlanta. Enchanted Closet held their annual Dress Drive event to collect donated items on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Bunkley’s Sporting Goods, in southwest Atlanta.

This is the 11^th Annual Prom Dress Giveaway for the non-profit organization, and according to their Director, they are expecting 500 girls to participate this year.

Bunkley’s Sporting Goods, owned by Shawn Bunkley, is an Enchanted Closet community partner, and serves as one of the donation locations for collecting donated prom attire. 

The Enchanted Closet’s Prom Dress Giveaway began in 2003 as a project to provide prom dresses to teenage girls whose families were financially challenged. To date, the Enchanted Closet has outfitted more than 4,000 girls for special occasions.

“The Enchanted Closet is grateful for the generous support of Bunkley’s Sporting Goods. Mr. Bunkley is really showing love to the girls of metropolitan Atlanta and his concern for the community by calling on his customers, members of his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., sororities, family, friends, and associates to donate,” said Bonita Johnson, Enchanted Closet President and CEO. “We served more than 500 girls during the Prom Dress Giveaway last year, and believe we will see many more girls during our 2013 giveaway events on March 16 and 30."

During the Prom Dress Giveaway, the Enchanted Closet offers a boutique-style setting and provides personal shoppers – people who are volunteers – to help each girl choose that perfect dress, accessories and makeup for their special night. Enchanted Closet encourages girls to be smart shoppers by providing them an opportunity to get beautiful gowns for $10, a handling fee that helps to offset the costs of dry-cleaning, alterations, and set-up. Accessories are available on a limited basis.  

The 11^th Annual Prom Dress Giveaway events are Saturday, March 16 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the John Birdine Neighborhood Center, 215 Lakewood Way S.W., Atlanta, 30315 and on Saturday, March 30 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University, 80 Forsyth Street N.W., Atlanta, 30303.

Girls interested in receiving a prom dress should visit the Enchanted Closet website, www.enchantedcloset.org/student-registration  to reserve an appointment. Advanced registration is required to participate in Prom Dress Giveaway.

If you have a dress or accessories that you would like to donate, you have from now through April. You can find a nearby donation location by visiting www.enchantedcloset.org.

The next donation date in the area is on March 9th at Cascade UMC – 3144 Cascade Road, SW Atlanta, GA 30311.