Pamela's Closet set to give away hundreds of prom dresses

Heather Wright pulls a blue sequined dress from the rack, the fabric sparkling even in the dim basement light of Poplar Springs Baptist Church.

The prom dress is just one of around 800 that will be given away for free next month at a distribution event.

In 2016, Wright, who currently teaches at Gardner-Webb University, was a high school teacher and one of her students decided to collect prom dresses as his senior project to help make prom more accessible to families. The school became a chapter of the national organization, Becca’s Closet.

“Our chapter is called Pamela’s Closet,” Wright said. “We were just collecting dresses one by one. The prom closet grew from there. In 2020, Poplar Springs Baptist took that chapter over when the school was no longer able to hold it.”

She said last year, they held a distribution in Shelby and Sylva.

“This is definitely a village of so many people having a heart for this project,” Wright said. “It’s my favorite thing I get to do. It’s not just about someone having a dress.”

She said the event tells each student they are valued and they are important.

“It started with one dress at a time and kind of exploded,” she said.

She never anticipated it would go from the 10 dresses collected the first year to the nearly 800 today.

Some of the dresses come from people donating their old prom dresses, worn once, and others are brand-new from department stores.

“We’re just really fortunate and want to be good stewards of what we have,” Wright said. “It’s so special to us.”

The gowns range in size from 0-28 and have all colors and styles, from the more traditional elaborate gowns to sleek modern ones. They even have some vintage dresses and pantsuits.

The prom gowns will be given away Friday, Feb. 10, from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Poplar Spring Baptist Church’s family life center. The church is located at 1106 Poplar Springs Church Road in Shelby.

Wright said there will be racks set up according to dress size, full length mirrors and bathrooms that will be set up as changing rooms. There will also be some shoes and jewelry.

Wright said the church youth group and GWU Student Government Association will be helping set up and prepare for the event as well as cleaning up afterwards.

“I’m really grateful for Gardner-Webb student government association participating this year,” Wright said. “They’re excited to be able to help out and give back. This is the work of tons and tons of other people. I could not do this without them.”

No proof of need is requested at the distribution event or asked for at any point in time. Some of the dresses are gently worn and many are brand new.

“Our goal is to provide an inviting space and a positive experience for students,” Wright said. “We just really believe that everyone deserves the perfect dress.”

Becca’s Closet, based out of Florida, seeks to provide free prom dresses to high schoolers, and there are chapters all around the nation. For more information on the organization visit beccascloset.org.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Pamela's closet set to give away hundreds of prom dresses