Nutley Prom Dress Drive a Success

Nutley High School cafeteria tables were piled high with formal fashions on Wednesday when volunteers took in used prom dresses for "Operation Cinderella."  

Greenutley and the Department of Public Works, with the help of the Nutley Board of Education and volunteers from Nutley High School spent Wednesday afternoon collecting gently used, no-longer-needed prom dresses and formal wear that have been cleaned and are ready-to-wear. 

The dresses are set to be donated to Catherine’s Closets, a non-profit organization in Newark that works with local area high schools with student populations that would normally not be able to afford designer prom dresses. In addition, a small portion of the gowns collected will be used to benefit the students of Sojourn High School, part of the Essex County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Nutley High School Juniors Ciara Nazaruk and Alana Meo oversaw the collection as part of their volunteer work through the school's Key Club. They said that donations had come in steadily throughout the three hour collection period. Donors told the volunteers about the history of some of the formal wear, which ranged from former bridesmaids dresses to gowns worn in competitive pageants. 

Nutley township officials said they were happy to report they collected 83 dresses that were donated to Catherine's Closet who were thrilled that the drive did so well.