Savannah Mullins, Brooke Slone and Allison Tackett choose dresses for their upcoming prom from a collection of more than 200 free dresses available at the Valley Veterinary Clinic.
A local veterinary clinic in the Shelby Valley area will conduct its second prom dress giveaway event on April 6.
The dress giveaway will be at Valley Veterinary Clinic from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., according to Dr. Whitney Rauth. There are more than 200 dresses in a wide variety of sizes.
Rauth said the event started after she had been helping with flood relief efforts in 2022.
“I didn’t want to see girls having to miss their prom that year,” Rauth said. “I sent an email to a company and it started with a $19 dress thing and grew from there.
“I didn’t know if I would fool with it again this year,” she continued. “I didn’t know if there would be any interest. The Lord told me, ‘Just watch this.’ It is 10 times bigger than I would have ever imagined it would be.”
Valley Veterinary Clinic has received several donations of gowns this year both new with tags still on them along with donated dresses that have previously been worn. Rauth said the Elkhorn City Girl Scout Troop 411, which has done a similar event and has decided to no longer continue their project, recently donated their entire inventory to the clinic. Also, she recently received a donation of more than 30 brand new prom dresses from Unique Boutique.
“Some of these dresses still have the tags on them,” she said. “They are $400 and $500 dresses and they are free. Unique Boutique has really blessed our program. The economy is tight now and we know a lot of people are having hard times.”
Rauth said there are no requirements for people to participate in the dress giveaway. The dresses are available to anyone without regard to financial concerns or residency.
“We have sent dresses from Belfry to Knott County,” Rauth said. “ All a student has to do is come and try them on. And we have lots of accessories they can choose to go with their dresses including shoes, jewelry and purses.”
Rauth said these dresses do not have to be used for prom if a girl needs them for other occasions such as weddings, homecomings or balls.
She said some gowns in the collection may appeal to older women who also need something for a formal event or who may need mother-of-the-bride dresses.
There is also a limited quality of men’s suit jackets available.
Rauth said girls wanting a dress can come anytime the clinic is open (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Closed on Wednesdays and Sundays) and a private room will be made available for them to try on dresses.
The large giveaway event was done at a local church last year; however, Rauth said it will be held at the clinic this year because moving the dresses from one location to another can damage them.
Valley Veterinary Clinic is located at 43 Compton Drive and is visible from US 23.