Cinderella couldn’t attend the royal ball without a proper gown, likewise many high school girls miss out on their event of a lifetime for the same reason. Cinderella’s fairy godmother was by her side, similarly students have the Aberdeen Lions Lioness Club to give them a night to remember.

The Cinderella’s Closet Organization will be sponsored again by the Aberdeen Lions Lioness Club for the seventh year. The foundation allows students who normally wouldn’t be able to attend prom due to costs, show up in their dream dress.

The organization was started in 2010 by three high school seniors striving to achieve their girl scouts gold award. “They had a fashion show and gave dresses away and our club, the lions club, helped them that year as far as trying the dresses on and all that stuff. After that in 2011, we took it on as our project,” comments Aberdeen Lions Lioness Club member, Sandy Pierce.

Flyers have been sent to all public high schools in Harford, Baltimore and Cecil County along with many private schools, urging students to come pick out a gown. Each year about 200 girls recieve dresses, but plenty of dresses still remain, Pierce estimates they have about 1,000 dresses at the moment waiting to be given away.

Being a mom herself, Pierce understands how expensive prom can be considering the dress, shoes, hair, make-up, and the ticket itself, which can be around $70. “We can help with getting the gown and that’s the biggest hurdle to jump and some girls probably wouldn’t be able to attend prom at all if they didn’t get help with a free dress,” she explains. Some dresses are even brand new, donated by local stores, the others being gently used and only worn one time. Drop boxes are located throughout the county at different locations, some including the hair cuttery at Harford Mall, K&B Bridals on main street in Bel Air, Amanda’s Florist in Havre de Grace, Heart to Heart Hair Studio in Aberdeen, and Happy Hair Salon in Elkton.

Cinderella’s closet is overflowing with dresses, Pierce encourages girls to come out and get a dress. She explains, “even if honestly you know if it’s not a matter of you need, maybe you can afford to go out and buy a 200 dollar dress, but if you don’t need to, come and get a dress.” All that is asked is that students bring a student ID to prove they’re a high school student then they can receive a dress. At their latest event, girls attended from schools all over Harford, Baltimore, and Cecil County, including Harford Christian, Patterson Mill, Edgewood, Harford Tech, Joppatowne, Perryville, and even some homeschool students. “So we get them from all over the place, coming for a dress,” adds Pierce.
The Lions Lioness Club of Aberdeen follows the motto of “giving every girl a chance for a night to remember” in order to fuel their organization. “We don’t want any girls not getting a chance to go to their prom because you only have one prom. You don’t want to miss that if you don’t have to. If we can help them get a dress so that they can go, that’s what we want to do,” states Pierce.