There's still time to give to LI prom dress drive

In the midst of spring cleaning, Debbie Osterwald, 42, of Franklin Square, said she came across a 10-year-old silver gown that she had worn as a bridesmaid.

Osterwald dropped it off at Bloomingdale's at Roosevelt Field mall in East Garden City Saturday - one of more than 250 new and gently used prom and bridesmaid dresses collected there as of midafternoon.

Joking that it was more stylish than others she has worn, she added, "I didn't just want to throw it in any donation bin."

The Long Island Volunteer Center and Nassau Community College will continue to collect dresses and accessories - shoes, evening bags and jewelry - at nine locations Sunday afternoon as part of its 16th annual Prom Boutique program.

The dresses will be donated to high school seniors across Long Island who couldn't otherwise afford to dress up for their proms or graduation ceremonies.

Organizers said the need seems to be greater during the economic downturn. Pat Lupino, chairwoman of the college's marketing and fashion department, said 600 teens - twice as many as in previous years - had already registered to attend an event next Saturday, when many of the dresses will be distributed.

Diana O'Neill, executive director of the Long Island Volunteer Center, said especially for families with tight finances, something like a prom dress is "a luxury item."

The program seeks to help to "validate these young women," she said. "They stayed in school, they've earned it."

Lupino said, "It's not just a dress. It's dignity, it's respect, it's a feeling of confidence."

Bloomingdale's collected 70 dresses last week and another 180 by midafternoon Saturday, holding a pre-prom party featuring a mini-fashion show and styling competition among several high schools.

Last year, more than 1,100 girls from 60 different schools and youth organizations received dresses.

Other similar programs around Long Island include a dress giveaway by Eva Pappas, owner of Sayville boutique Eva.

This is the sixth year Pappas has donated dresses to students in Suffolk County in what she calls the Cinderella Project. She provides one or two dresses to each school district, seeking recipients through the schools.

"I take them and I dress them. I give them a fitting. They're thrilled to death," Pappas said.

Lupino said for the event at the college, student volunteers transform a room into a huge boutique with 30 racks of dresses and 10 tables of shoes and accessories. The college students help drum up publicity and run dress drives, provide alterations and work the event as salespeople, "escorting a young girl through the boutique."

Lupino said the student volunteers are "so touched by the event and the kids that come to it - and the expressions on their faces."

More drop-off sites

The prom dress drive goes on Sunday, from 1 to 3 p.m., unless otherwise noted:

CENTERPORT: Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church, 53 Prospect Rd.

COLD SPRING HARBOR: St. John's Church, 1670 Rte. 25A

LAKE SUCCESS: Westy Self Storage, 2400 Marcus Ave.

MANHASSET: Americana at Manhasset, Concierge Store, 2060 Northern Blvd.

MASSAPEQUA: YES Community Counseling Center, 75 Grand Ave., noon-2 p.m.

PORT JEFFERSON STATION: St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, back doors, 309 Patchogue Rd.

ROCKVILLE CENTRE: St. Mark's United Methodist Church, parlor, 200 Hempstead Ave.

ROSLYN: Junior League of Long Island Thrift Shop, 1395 Old Northern Blvd.

WANTAGH: St. Frances de Chantal Roman Catholic Church, Smulski Room, 1309 Wantagh Ave.