The former Deb’s store in Mattoon Cross County Mall will be transformed into a prom dress resale fundraiser on Saturday for community members to buy affordable dresses, shoes and accessories for upcoming dances.
All of the merchandise for the resale is provided through donations from businesses, students, community members and even mall patrons.
Each donor has two options–to simply give away their items, or the donor can co-sign where they set a reasonable price on the item and pay a $5 charge for clothing items and $2 charge for accessories.
This guarantees that their items will be on display for sale and if their items are sold they will receive 100% of the profit.
Music Boosters President Lisa Killough said every one that comes in would receive help from volunteers making sure that participates find the perfect dress for them.
“The nice thing is you are guaranteed a unique dress so there will be something for everyone, there will be plenty of volunteers so every girl feels special when she comes in,” Killough said.
The resale is from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. with a $3 admission fee to guarantee that this event not only helps community members find special merchandise, but also serves as a fundraiser for the Charleston High School Marching Trojans.
There will be approximately 100 high school and middle school students eager to help girls find the right dress and accessories as well as make sure the fitting rooms are neat and the racks remain orderly throughout the event.
Trojan Marching Band Director Laney Cruit said the middle school and high school students do not have a chance to spend a lot of time together so they look forward to working together during the fundraiser.
“They get a chance to get to know each other,” Cruit said. “ The girls it’s a chance for them to play dress up and some of them walk away with items for themselves.”
Killough said her favorite part is seeing the girls come in and they are made to feel special. She said she loves to see the students provide that service and she loves to see the girls receive that service.
The Music Boosters organization is made up of band member’s parents, faculty and community members and they were responsible for planning the resale because last year was so successful.
“It was new and different and hadn’t been done in this area before which is the biggest reason why it was successful,” Cruit said. “ I anticipated it being even more successful we have gotten a lot of positive feedback and a lot of dresses are donated already.”
Killough said the Boosters’ goal is to support the Charleston district music departments mainly through fundraisers.
Currently, the Marching Trojans band uniforms are 15 years old and are in desperate need of replacement.
There are approximately 75 high school band members so the cost of purchasing new uniform is just under $49,000.
“Current uniforms are absolutely falling apart, we are at a point where they can’t be repaired anymore but we have doubled our expectation time and we have done well with what we have,” Cruit said.
Approximately $21,000 was previously raised securing the deposit for new uniforms but through fundraisers the band needs to raise about $27,000 by July 31, Cruit said.
A new band uniform has already been voted on and selected which serves as a visual reminder for the band members to keep participating in fundraisers to reach their goal.
“The marching band competes every year in pep band and in competitions so they are very active in our community and we would like to have them look nice,” Killough said.
Even if participates do not find any dresses or accessories, they still can give a donation to the band and purchase raffle tickets for services businesses have donated such as mani and pedis, and restaurant and salon gift cards.
“I want to give a big thank you for the Music Boosters,” Cruit said. “I don’t know what me or the kids would do without all of the hard work that they do with the little pay back they receive.”
Kalyn Hayslett can be reached at 581-2812 or kehayslett@eiu.edu.
