The Dress for Success

Finding the perfect prom dress is hard enough when you have the time and money to do it.

But some girls have far fewer options and Grace Baccare, a sophomore at , wanted to do something about it.

Baccare launched a campaign to round up gently used prom dresses around Haddonfield to give to girls in Gloucester City. She's asking for donations to be dropped off at 320 Chews Landing Rd. between 1 and 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday.

If you can’t drop off the dress, she can pick it up if you email her at gbaccare19@comcast.net and let her know when and where to get it.

"Girls in Haddonfield are so fortunate and lucky to go to proms and dress up and I really felt that all girls should have the opportunity to go to proms and dress up," Grace said. "I really felt strongly about this kind of community service."

Gloucester City is an Abbott District, one of 31 in New Jersey that are among the poorest in the state, Grace and her mom wrote in a note. Many girls there need of dresses to wear to their prom in May. Any dresses not used will be donated to Fairy Godmothers Inc., a national organization that collects donated new and gently worn formal gowns and then holds “Prom Fairs” at which high school girls can purchase them for $10.

"Grace has seen a lot of service going on at her school and throughout Haddonfield, and felt like she wanted to do something for those less fortunate," her mother, Michele Baccare, said. "When she began attending school dances and shopping for dresses, we thought about donating the dresses sitting in her closet that wouldn't be worn again. Then we started considering all the girls in town who had the same situation and the idea grew from there."

The dresses must be in a dry-cleaning bag with a dry-cleaning receipt attached, they said.