Sunset Park High School clothing drive gives formalwear a second life

Prom season is here! At Sunset Park High School, students have a unique place to pick out their prom attire: the Prom Corner.

This is the third year the school has organized the prom clothing drive, which collects dresses, suits, shoes, jewelry, purses and makeup for students preparing for prom and other special occasions.

Teacher Chrisina Kennedy is in charge of the drive. She said the initiative relies mostly on donations from the school community.

“We asked staff members, students and their families if they have anything that they’d like to donate,” Kennedy said.

Collection bins labeled “prom” were set up in the main office on each floor for people to drop off items.

“My coordinator, students from the leadership team and I go through the donations to determine if it’s something that someone would be able to use,” Kennedy said. “If something isn’t the best for this occasion, we hold on to it.”

After sorting the items, the prom drive team displays the clothes on mannequins.

“We try to put some fancy jewelry on it, so it gives that shopping experience you would have in the mall,” Kennedy said.

Dresses and suits are placed on clothing racks with shoes underneath. Last year, the school also provided suit bags to students to enhance the boutique experience.

Kennedy said she wanted to give students the opportunity to take pictures and say, “I said yes to the dress,” or the suit.

Preparing for prom can be a financial burden for many students. Rising costs for clothes, shoes, makeup and other expenses are making the milestone event increasingly unaffordable. Prom Headquarters, a prom retailer, estimates that the average budget for prom is between $800 and $1,500 per person.

Buying brand-new clothes can be out of reach for many families in New York City. During the 2024-25 school year, more than 154,000 New York City public school students, nearly 1 in 7, experienced homelessness, according to Advocates for Children of New York.

“I’ve noticed that students are not only shopping for prom, but they are also shopping for suits and ties that they could wear to an interview,” Kennedy said. “Young ladies are shopping for dresses that they might wear on special occasions. It’s been a real joy to see students take something that they need and use it for whatever purpose they have.”

During the school year, the school also hosted a clothing swap where staff and students could bring clothing items they no longer needed and exchange them for something new to wear.

Teacher Jennifer Goodnow got the idea from students while teaching a 10th-grade advisory class.

“Students had to do a service-learning project. The kids wanted to focus on the local community,” Goodnow said. “Students understand the sustainability aspect of clothes shopping. Instead of buying new clothes, it makes more sense to do a clothing swap. It also has a fun feeling to it and it doesn’t feel like charity.”

Students organized the entire event, creating flyers and arranging the layout of the space, Goodnow added.

For future proms and senior events, Kennedy wants to engage even more with the neighborhood.

“We have one of our local florists providing flowers for our prom event,” she said. “Something I want to do is to go to local nail salons and barbershops and see if they would be willing to donate services to students who are going to the prom. Because when it comes to the prom, sometimes it becomes the barrier to attending when students have to choose between this, this and this.”

This year’s prom will be held at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island on June 12.