Mass. Students Get Free Prom Dresses At 20th Annual Belle Of The Ball

BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Hynes Convention Center was transformed into a prom dress outlet for the 20th annual Belle of the Ball on Saturday.

A collaboration between Anton's Cleaners, Jordan's Furniture, and Enterprise Bank, Belle of the Ball collects donated prom dresses, cleans them, and then freely distributes them to local high school students in need.

1,800 students from across Massachusetts attended Saturday's event in Boston, many of them wowed by the massive selection of dresses, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and other accessories.

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"I feel very excited, I see that there’s many dresses. I didn’t expect there to be so many options," said Mia, a Lawrence High School student who was looking for something backless in gold or red. "Coming from low income, you don’t usually have the opportunity to go out and [go] shopping for dresses."

Elizabeth from Abbott Lawrence Academy, who was looking for a blue or green dress with a princess cut, told WBZ NewsRadio she was feeling a bit overwhelmed because "there’s so many pretty dresses and I have so much to choose from."

As students browsed, volunteers helped out as personal shoppers or runners putting dresses back.

"[It's] really, really, really nice," said Angel, a volunteer runner. "They are all so happy, they’re really happy, and I mean it’s a big day, it’s their prom day, so I’m really excited for them and I’m really happy for them."

Jordan's Furniture CEO Eliot Tatelman was also excited to see all the happy faces.

"You see the girls, the joy and the excitement and the smiles and how excited they are, that’s the give back," Tatelman said.

After picking out their outfits, the girls then got to walk the runway and pose on the red carpet.

WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.

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