Prom shop on wheels helps out students in need

Park High School senior Julia Merrell skipped the mall and instead found her red sequined prom dress in a school bus parked outside school.

The gown was a bargain, at $20. But her purchase also helped feed another student in her school district for an entire month.

In preparation for prom season, Fairytale Fashion For Food has been selling gently used and new prom dresses by hosting pop-up dress shops at area high schools.

The new program is a partnership between South Washington County Schools Community Education and SoWashCo CARES, an organization that helps families and students in need.

Roughly 400 dresses, toted from school to school via a silver Community Education school bus, have been donated to Fairytale Fashion since it began collecting donated dresses earlier this year. Most of the dresses came from people in the school district; the new ones came from Glitz dress shop and Macy's, both at the Mall of America.

Fairytale Fashion's goal is to raise $10,000 for a summer food pack program for District 833 students who use free and reduced lunches. So far it has raised about $3,000 and now plans to put on food drives in the coming months, said Jacqueline Valek, communications specialist for community education.

Merrell and her friend Rachel Tourville draped dresses over their arms Thursday in the bus, parked outside their high school in Cottage Grove, as they rummaged through dozens of tulle and silk gowns under twinkling lights. A few of the dresses they modeled for each other were brand-new.

While the girls are eager to get dressed up, Tourville said she's most looking forward to making memories with her friends when Park High hosts its prom in May.

"I'm excited to spend time with my best friend before she goes to college," she said.

Valek, who helped write the original proposal for the program, said she started thinking about it after helping with Community Education's annual Daddy Daughter Dance.

"There are a lot of girls who can afford to buy the big fancy dress, but there's a lot who can't," she said.

Rather than shell out hundreds of dollars, girls get the chance with Fairytale Fashion to buy a dress for less than the cost of a ticket to prom.

Valek said the group will again ask for dresses when prom seasons wraps up, and plans to host the pop-up events for a second time next year.

Haley Hansen is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.