In movies and books, prom night is played up to be the best night of the year. It’s the quintessential high school moment: a time to get all dolled up, take pictures with friends, and dance the night away with your lucky date or high school sweetheart. I even have a picture of my senior prom group proudly displayed on my bulletin board between pictures from swaps and formals. What the movies seem to leave out, though, is the cost. Prom dresses can be very expensive, even to the point of preventing students from going. Tuscaloosa’s hit radio station 94.1 ZBQ has a solution for local girls who are looking for a fabulous prom night that won’t break the bank.
March 8th marks the finale of the radio station’s second annual House of Prom. From February 15th to March 2nd, high school and college age girls from the Tuscaloosa area donated gently used prom dresses, bridesmaids’ dresses and pageant dresses to House of Prom. The drop off sites for the dresses included Soca, Lucca, Old Navy, and AZ Well, all businesses located in the Midtown Village Shopping Center.
This afternoon, March 8th, the station will be selling these donated dresses for $10 each at Midtown Village in a storefront between Jos. A. Banks and Altar’d State. The sale will run from 4pm to 8pm, and it’s open to anyone looking for a prom dress. According to the station’s website, TL Signature Salon will also be on hand to provide free consultations as to what hairstyles and makeup will go best with your dress of choice.
I had a chance to talk with 94.1 ZBQ radio DJ D-Lo about the event. He said, “Local Tuscaloosa girls, right here, are getting a prom dress for cheap, because not everyone can afford a prom dress. A lot of people get deterred from going to the prom so we’re trying to solve that problem.”
This year, the station has collected over a hundred dresses from the drive to be sold on the afternoon of the 8th. The money raised will go to support yet another cause in the Tuscaloosa area. DJ D-Lo said, “We’re taking all the money we raise and donating it to Turning Point Services. Last year, we had hundreds of dresses gone and thousands of dollars raised.”
Turning Point Services is an organization that offers aid to those in West Alabama who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The radio station is hoping to duplicate last year’s success, with all the proceeds from the prom dress sale and any additional contributions going to the organization. The station decided Turning Point Services would be the perfect organization to receive the funds because the majority of domestic violence and sexual assault victims are women. With House of Prom, 94.1 ZBQ is helping women of all ages in the Tuscaloosa community.
Several of HC Alabama’s staff contributed to this amazing cause by donating some of their own dresses. HCA Editor-in-Chief Jessica Johnson gave a few of her own dresses to House of Prom. Jessica said, “I donated because this is an important issue that I never really thought about before. Every girl should get a chance to go to her Prom. House of Prom lets girls get dresses without having to worry about money. The dresses we sent are fabulous!”
94.1 ZBQ is Tuscaloosa’s station for hit music, but they definitely care about bigger things than pop music. Through House of Prom, the station is giving high school girls a chance at a romantic, fun-filled night, while also supporting abused women and children in their search for comfort and stability. We at HC Alabama encourage you to tell anyone and everyone about today’s sale. In the words of DJ D-Lo, “If you know anyone in the area who needs a dress for $10, needs a prom dress for cheap to go to prom, this is where they need to go.” Even if you aren’t in search of a prom dress, stop by Midtown Village and donate to this worthy cause. A girl on prom night may just thank you later.