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More than 600 teenagers could have a more special prom this spring because of Sarah Minshull.
Minshull, a 20-year-old University of Kansas junior, is the founder of a prom attire program organized through Cross-Lines Community Outreach, a nonprofit relief agency in Kansas City, Kan.
This week, the program took about 550 donated dresses and about 100 donated suits and tuxedos to the students of J.C. Harmon, Washington and Turner high schools. Everything was offered to the students for free and for keeps.
The program got its start when Minshull was a junior at Shawnee Mission North High School. She was talking with her friends about shopping for prom dresses.
“It was the biggest thing because you are a junior and you are finally able to go to prom,” she said.
Minshull noticed one friend who wasn’t as enthusiastic. That girl, a student at J.C. Harmon High School, later confided in Minshull that she couldn’t afford a new dress. Minshull was stunned because she had always been able to get dresses for parties and dances.
“We were lucky enough that that was not an issue,” she said. “Sure, we borrowed dresses from each other, but we did it because we liked them.”
Minshull’s charitable idea was as close as her closet.
“I thought, ‘I am never going to wear these dresses again. We should do something with them,’ ” Minshull said.
She shared her idea with her grandmother, Mary Minshull, a volunteer at Cross-Lines. Together, and with the help of Cross-Lines, the prom attire program began. The first year there were about 20 prom dresses.
Now, not only are there hundreds more dresses, but more items are donated, including men’s shirts, shoes, purses, jewelry and even makeup.
“It gets better every year,” Mary Minshull said.
She said gratitude among the students — and often their parents — has never waned. She said last year she was approached by one mother who had come with her son.
“She came up to me and said, ‘I can’t thank you enough. I barely have enough to pay for food, let alone a suit. This makes him feel so good.’ ”
The young men are encouraged to use the suits for graduation and later for job interviews.
This week was the first time Sarah Minshull was able to witness the prom shopping at Harmon. She always had conflicts with her own school schedule.
“It was incredible,” Minshull said of watching the students. “I was so excited that when I left I started thinking about what we could do for next year.”
•For more information about the program, contact Theresa Swartwood at 913-281-3388.
On the Web
•Go to KansasCity.com to see a video of the giveaway at J.C. Harmon.
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