The Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo
Save the Date: March 28, 2025
Our 2025 Dress Giveaway Event will be Friday, March 28, 2025 at the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan Program and Training Center in Kalamazoo.
Our event is open to any high school student in need of a dress for prom! (No geographic restrictions or proof of need required.)
Appointments are required for all participants, and appointment booking begins here on March 1, 2025. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the event!
Donate now!
The Cinderella Project is a community-wide event only made possible by the generous donations of gently worn prom dresses and accessories. If you would like to clean out your closet and help make prom dreams come true, dress and accessory donations can be dropped off year-round at Memories Bridal & Evening Wear in Downtown Kalamazoo. We are especially in need of plus-size dresses size 20 and up.
Monetary donations are also needed to purchase additional plus-size gowns to fill in donation gaps as well as to cover the cost of dress storage and pipe and drape rental. (Total annual expenses for our program are typically $2,500-$3,000.) Please use the link below or click here to contribute.
If you prefer to donate via check, checks can be made out to “Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo” and mailed to 203 E. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (c/o Memories Bridal & Evening Wear).
Your help is greatly appreciated!
The Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo is a 501C3 non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible.
The Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo
Sponsored by Memories Bridal & Evening Wear in partnership with Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan, The Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo is a one-day, annual event that provides free prom dresses and accessories to local high school students in need. Originally founded in 2007 as a partnership between Memories and The Junior League of Kalamazoo, each year The Cinderella Project gives away hundreds of beautiful dresses to help make prom dreams come true regardless of a student’s financial or personal circumstances.
With your support, we were able to help 196 students from 61 different schools make their prom dreams come true at last year’s event!
Our 2025 Dress Giveaway Event will be held on Friday, March 28, 2025. Appointments will be required, and appointment booking will begin March 1, 2025. More details to come as we get closer to the event.
Follow the Cinderella Project on Facebook for the most up-to-date information.
Volunteers Needed
Our event is completely volunteer-run, and each year we require the help of over 100 volunteers to give our participants the amazing experience they deserve. Volunteer opportunities are available prior to the event as well as on our giveaway day. We have both behind-the-scenes “prep work” opportunities as well as opportunities to work directly with our participants. If you would like to make prom dreams come true as a volunteer please email llankerd1@gmail.com for more info.
Please note: background checks will be conducted for any volunteers working directly with participants on our giveaway day.
Making Prom Dreams Come True
The Cinderella Project makes prom dreams come true for hundreds of high school students every year. Check out pics of some of our previous events below.
Sponsors
Previous Events In The News
Fox 17 “Prom is a rite of Passage,” Cinderella Project to distribute free dresses in Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, MI. - Prom planning has begun and the Cinderella Project Kalamazoo is making sure every girl has the perfect dress.
“Prom can be a huge expense,” said Adrienne Wissner, founder of the Cinderella Project and owner of Memories Bridal & Evening Wear.
Fox17: Cinderella Project to provide free prom dresses for high school students in need. Remember prom season? Who do you ask? Who might ask you? What will you be wearing? For those who are struggling financially, that's where the Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo comes in to help.
WWMT: Cinderella Project kicks off prom season with free dresses, accessories for high schoolers Prom season is upon high school students, for many, it's an opportunity to make lasting memories and dress up with friends. As it has in years past, a non-profit organization helped out this prom season by giving away free prom dresses and accessories to local high school students in need.
MLive: Hundreds of teens find free prom dresses at Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo -For many high school juniors and seniors, prom is fairy-tale night filled with beautiful dresses, flowers, music and friends. But the price tag on a perfect prom can break a budget. …eliminate some major expenses in the nonprofit’s effort to ensure every girl can feel like a princess at her prom.
WOOD TV: Cinderella Project to offer free prom dresses — An annual event aimed at making prom both affordable and memorable for Kalamazoo-area students will make its return Friday. The Cinderella Project will offer over 2,200 prom dresses and accessories to high school juniors and seniors.
WMMT News: Cinderella Project to distribute free prom dresses in Kalamazoo. Over 2,000 prom gowns and accessories have been donated to the Cinderella Project this year, in order to be distributed to high school girls in need.
WOOD TV: Making prom possible - The Cinderella Project KALAMAZOO, Mich (WOTV) - Prom is an event young people look forward to each spring. But what do teens do when they can’t afford to buy a prom dress? Thanks to the Cinderella Project in Kalamazoo, teens can get free prom dresses and accessories.
MLIVE: Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo will offer teens free prom dresses KALAMAZOO, MI -- An event to insure every teen can feel like a princess on prom night will return to Kalamazoo for its 13th year Friday. This event provides Free Prom Dresses to local high school girls who otherwise would not be able to afford to attend their own prom.
Fox17 News: Cinderella Project giving away prom dresses GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Organizers at Cinderella's Project in Kalamazoo are giving away up to 2,000 prom dresses during a special one day event.
WOOD TV: Cinderella Project provides free prom dresses to teens KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Prom is an event young people look forward to each spring. But what do teens do when they can’t afford to buy a prom dress? Thanks to the Cinderella Project in Kalamazoo, teens can get free prom dresses and accessories.
WWMT: Cinderella Project in Kalamazoo Helps Girls Feel Like a Princess for Prom KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Memories Bridal and Evening Wear handed out free prom dresses that the Girl Scouts building on Saturday as part of their 11th annual Cinderella Project. The Cinderella Project receives donated gowns and accessories and then offers them to girls who normally could not afford prom dresses, eliminating the financial burden that usually accompanies prom.
FOX 17: The Cinderella Project Helps Hundreds of Girls Dress for Prom
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Hundreds of girls walked away with free prom dresses during the 11th annual Cinderella Project in Kalamazoo Saturday. The Cinderella Project receives donated gowns and accessories and then offers them to girls who normally could not afford prom dresses, eliminating the financial burden that usually accompanies prom. The Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan in Kalamazoo hosted the event as the girls said yes to the dress. The Cinderella Project helps girls who can’t afford to attend prom, do just that.
FOX 17: Free Prom Dresses from The Cinderella Project
KALAMAZOO, Mich - It's prom season, and that means pretty dresses, tuxedos, and fun times with friends. But for some teens, that perfect dress seems out of reach.
That's where The Cinderella Project comes in!
Any high school girl in West Michigan can get a prom dress for their special night, free of charge!
FOX 17: Cinderella Project Helping Girls Feel Like a Princess for Prom One Dress at a Time
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Cinderella made it to the ball with the help of her fairy godmother. With the wave of a wand she donned a sparkling new dress, free of charge. Adrienne Wissner and her staff at Memories Bridal and Evening Wear have become fairy godmothers of sorts to a lot of teenage girls who cannot afford to go to prom. They’ve given the girls the dress of their dreams … for free.
MLIVE: Cinderella Project gives away hundreds of prom dresses to Michigan teens
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Eight years after she founded the Cinderella Project of Kalamazoo, Adrienne Wissner, still remembers one family in particular.
"I remember this family that was having a devastating year," Wissner said. "They had lost a family member to suicide and (one parent) had lost their job. They were in a hard place, but wanted to give their daughter just a bit of normalcy."
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