Friday afternoon, a common scene for late spring played out as several Bonney Lake High School girls wandered around the Backstage Salon in Buckley, moving from stations for hair, makeup, manicures and pedicures as they prepared for prom night. But there was an unusual aspect to the whole affair: these students were receiving their primping – and prom dresses – gratis.
“I’m thankful for it,” student Jessica Killmer said. “Without them I wouldn’t be going to prom.”
Lions 4 Kids House sent nearly 45 young men and women to prom who otherwise would not be able to afford the high school milestone. The Bonney Lake nonprofit, which operates a clothing and school supply bank during the regular year, arranged for students primping, dresses or tuxedos and tickets, even paying off outstanding school fines to clear a student to attend the dance.
Since beginning four years ago, the Prom Project takes 10 applicants each from Bonney Lake, Sumner, Orting and White River high schools, as well as five students from the White River Alternative Program. Eligible students must be on track to graduate as seniors, and this year Lions 4 Kids requested students complete three hours of community service.
This year was also the first that the Prom Project had access to a genuine salon. Previously, volunteer hairdressers have had to make do in church basements, hallways and the Windermere Real Estate office.
“Backstage Salon needs to be thanked for this,” Lions Facility Manager Iona Catonio said. “They don’t make any money here, and prom is a big money day for salons.”
Traci Andreasson had been told for years by Lions Board Member Juli Bell that she should get involved in the program. After she became manager of Backstage Salon, she knew she had the opportunity, she said.
“It didn’t take any convincing at all for (Salon Owner) Bobbi (Braun),” she said. “She has such an open heart and she comes from a similar background as most of these kids. We’re hoping to do it again next year.”
Andreasson emphasized the impact the project has on people’s lives.
“Last week we had a mother in here crying because without us her daughter wouldn’t have been able to go to prom,” she said. “This woman had just gone through a divorce, been diagnosed with cancer and lost her job. Bobbi and I looked at each other and said ‘Oh yeah, that’s why we’re giving up our Saturdays.’”
Even with a surplus of volunteer help and donations, the Prom Project cleaned out its $5,000 budget for the year, Catonio said. Because of the economy, the project could not get a discount on tuxedo rentals. A handful of dresses also had to be purchased when the donated items didn’t come in the right size for a girl. However, money was also spent on fun for the students, including snacks on primp days and a “guys night out” at GameBreakerz for the boys.
“It’s been really fun and everyone’s been great,” Killmer said. “The donations didn’t have a dress that fit me, so they went out and bought five or six dresses for me to try on.”
The lead-up to graduation has been particularly stressful for Killmer beyond the usual finals and senior projects.
“I moved out of my house when I turned 18,” she said as she got a pedicure from Board Member April Young. “I’m living with my best friend, but I’m supporting myself with my job.
“I’m really excited. It as really stressful the past few weeks because of classes and my senior project, but I’m pumped up for tonight.”
Young concurred that prom should be a special night for all the teens in the project.
“Probably they all want to kill me, though, because I tell them what I told my son,” she said. “Make good choices, because you can’t take them back.”
As the girls came off the assembly line in full dress, they posed for photos taken by volunteers.
“You two look so gorgeous,” Hairdresser Ali Winters gushed as she photographed Kristina Kuxhausen and Mercedes Blagg.
“I love it,” Kuxhausen said about the project. “I think more people should volunteer for it and seek it out.”
