Operation Fairy Godmother fulfills prom wishes

A sample of notes collected at Operation Fairy Godmother’s 2009 event.

“I was here at 6 a.m.! This was so awesome to experience, I was so upset that I might not be able to afford a prom dress thanks to the economy. … Thank you so much for making this year perfect!”

— Megan, Heritage High School

“I absolutely love the gown that I got. I just wanted to thank all of the fantastic women that made it possible! You helped me squeeze into it not once but twice! My day has been made, and I know I will have a wonderful prom experience!”

— Amanda, Stevenson High School

“I’ve never come before and had a blast. Found the best dress and felt beautiful.”

— Cathleen, Legacy High School

o Drop-offs of clean, nonstained, “gently used” gowns — and appropriate accessories such as shoes and evening bags — are welcome before Monday at the mall’s Nordstrom store BP (juniors) Department; the VSD Foundation office, 4100 Plomondon St.; Hostess House/Bridal Arts, 10017 N.E. Sixth Ave.; Spanky’s, 13503 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd.; and Lily Atelier, 237 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas.

o A $10 donation can “Grant a Wish” (through the Foundation’s 501(c)(3) organization) and put a dress in a girl’s hands at no charge. Mail-in forms are available at http://www.vansd.org (find the pink gown!) and the Foundation office on Plomondon, or call 360-313-4730.

o Boys get some help, too: More than $5,000 last year went to local schools and eligible male students to cover the cost of a pair of prom tickets ($15 to $60 each, at last count).

o 10,245 gowns distributed since 2004.

o 4,950 girls have received gowns.

o Record 19 participating Southwest Washington public high schools in 2010, from Kelso to Stevenson.

In the original story, Cinderella’s gorgeous gown goes poof when the clock strikes midnight.

No so, thankfully, for hundreds of dresses that have dazzled on prom night for Clark County high school students.

Operation Fairy Godmother is gearing up for its seventh edition on behalf of teen girls on March 20, rising from humble origins to an all-day spectacular at the Westfield Vancouver mall.

From about 500 donated dresses in 2004, the selection for about a thousand girls this year will hit 3,200 to 3,300 gowns, organizers with the Vancouver School District Foundation say.

And now, many young women who had purchased their gown for just $10 or less — a fraction of the real cost — are donating it right back to the cause.

“It’s really cool: She’s worn it for prom and now it’s cycling back,” said Jan Redding, foundation assistant director. On Monday, she helped sort dresses that already are filling the former Mervyn’s store at the mall.

A small army of volunteers are sifting, dry cleaning and double-checking gowns that have been collected at area high schools and other drop locations.

Sunrise on the 20th will find many girls camped outside the mall doors, awaiting first crack at the shimmery selection at 10 a.m.

More than 130 “Godmothers” will assist the girls in all the necessary steps: Sizing and choosing the gown, adding the right accessories, getting a hair makeover, even an optional professional portrait photo.

The event is truly is a blessing for many local teens, who might be shut out of the spendy prom experience otherwise.

“A lot of the girls have never shopped for a dress; they don’t even know what size they wear,” Redding said.

“The smiles on these girls’ faces, it makes it so worth it,” she said.

That payoff is enough to lure Denisse Haney all the way from northern Virginia to pitch in for the last two-week blitz.

In 2004, she teamed with her daughter, Margo, then a Skyview High School senior, to launch the Godmother program when Margo noticed so many girls searching for dresses from the Foundation’s Clothes Closet, a nonprofit resale shop.

“We had such awesome turnout, we realized we had to expand it,” said Denisse Haney, former Washington Elementary School resource coordinator and a devoted school mother who relocated to near Washington, D.C., last year.

The operation ran at a pair of smaller sites before landing at the mall.

What’s most needed, of course, are clean, well-preserved gowns. Each year, leaders dispose of any dress not purchased for at least three years, which freshens the selection but also adds to the growing need.

“We’re just trying to push people to clean out their closets, check to see what they have,” Redding said.

She’s often amazed by pristine gowns that are donated that might be several decades old, yet remain fashionable.

Redding and Haney laugh when they admit their tastes don’t matter a whit: Virtually any style goes.

“We can never have enough dresses,” Redding said. “There’s a girl for every dress in here.”