A West Lothian community pastor has launched an appeal for dresses, suits, and formal accessories this prom season as she hopes to tackle ‘prom poverty’.
As prom season approaches, Donna McCarron-Flynn, the community pastor of Broxburn Baptist Church came up with an appeal to make sure no one is left out of the end of year celebrations.
Amidst the cost of living crisis in the UK - spending money on expensive formal clothes is out of reach for a lot of families in West Lothian, the concern for local youth being left out is what spurred the pastor into action.
Alongside running activities like Autism and ADHD support groups out of the Baptist church in Broxburn, through her role as pastor Donna identifies needs in the community and tries to address them.
Pastor Donna spoke about the prom appeal, she said: “I wanted to make sure we were doing something for young people in our community.
“And while it’s not realistic right now to set up something like a youth club, I wanted to do something at least.
“When I found out about prom poverty I didn’t want any young people in our community to have to miss their prom over not being able to buy a suit or a dress.
“So I got in touch with Broxburn Academy to see if this was an issue and if I could help, and they told me there was a significant number of pupils who couldn’t afford to buy dresses or suits for their prom.”
By enlisting the help of the local community, Donna is now gathering donations of formal wear for young people, including dresses, suits, shoes, and accessories.
Working with the RMPS department at Broxburn Academy, the school is setting up a mirrored area where students will be able to try on formal wear in a pleasant environment.
To encourage everyone to get involved, Donna has suggested students that can afford it could donate a portion of what their outfit would cost to charities like the DEC who are supporting refugees fleeing Ukraine, and opt to wear or even upcycle an outfit from the prom appeal.
By using a ‘once-blessed’ outfit, as Donna describes them, from the prom appeal students will be able to save money while keeping trendy and thrifty.
And by refusing to buy a fast-fashion one-wear outfit they will also be doing their bit for the environment and of course, supporting the charity of their choice.
To support the prom appeal and arrange for your donation for drop off or to be picked up, you can contact the community pastor on pastor.donna@broxburnbaptist.org.uk.
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