The Lima Kiwanis Club hosted a Diva’s Den event Saturday at the Lima Masonic Lodge, giving area high school students the chance to find a prom dress for free.
LIMA — Volunteers from the Lima Kiwanis Club transformed the Lima Masonic Lodge into a pop-up dress shop Saturday for teenage girls and women in need of free formal attire.
Girls browsed through hundreds of gowns — mostly used, some never worn — donated to the Kiwanis Club so every girl could afford to go to prom and homecoming.
“I think out of all the things we do this might be the most appreciated by the community,” organizer Candy Newland said, “because these dresses are $450 to $500. If you have even one girl going to the prom, that’s a lot.”
The club, which gives away around 100 dresses each year, starts collecting new and gently used gowns in October so the dresses can be dry-cleaned and prepped in time for prom season.
Girls are allowed to keep the dresses for as long as they like, but many return the gowns so other girls can wear them too.
While prom is the most popular destination for girls visiting the Diva’s Den, women occasionally attend the one-day event in search of a bridesmaid dress and other expensive formal attire.
Newland herself found a gown to wear for her granddaughter’s wedding by browsing through the massive inventory — there are at least 600 dresses now, she estimates — that the Diva’s Den has collected from generations of Lima women in the last 15 years.
The Diva’s Den will soon travel to Lima Senior High School for girls who couldn’t make Saturday’s event.
A second giveaway is planned for after Labor Day, just in time for homecoming. The Kiwanis Club will start accepting donations of short dresses for its homecoming Diva’s Den in July.
