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NORTH OGDEN — Rather than forking over an arm and a leg to pay for a high school prom dress, teenage girls can borrow them free of charge from a new nonprofit organization.
JoCee Porter started Celebrate Everyday, which provides girls with formal dresses they can wear to high school dances or other formal occasions, she said.
One year after graduating from high school, Porter was looking through Facebook and saw girls trying to sell their dresses. She still had her prom dresses as well, but instead of selling them, she wanted girls to be able to wear them for free, she said.
Celebrate Everyday became an official nonprofit organization March 8. When girls want to borrow a dress, they visit Celebrate Everyday at 855 E. 3575 North in North Ogden, and if they find a dress they like, they take it and Porter charges them a $20 down payment on their credit card. If they bring the dress back, they get the $20 back, but if they don’t bring it back, Porter can charge $300 to their card, “because that’s the average cost for a prom dress,” she said.
“But if they bring the dress back we cover the cleaning costs as well as everything else for them ... and the storing fee,” she said.
Celebrate Everyday has more than 50 dresses, all of which have been donated. If people don’t want to donate their dresses permanently, they can donate them temporarily and take them back whenever they would like.
“So what I want it to become is just like this huge library of just dresses for girls all over Utah. So that way like almost anyone in the state will have access to your dress for free,” Porter said. “And so I just want to help out like any girl like regardless of their situation or income or anything regardless of anything like that I want them to all have access to the perfect dress for them for free.”
To donate funds to Celebrate Everyday, visit the GoFundMe*. To donate a dress, email celebrateeverydayorg@outlook.com.
*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
