Prom is a rite of passage for high school students – a chance to dress up and dance the night away. But all that glitz and glamour
can come with a steep price tag.
Knowing that the cost of prom might keep many girls from attending, five
employees of the Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute started the Fairy Godmother
Project of Music City to provide free prom attire to deserving local girls.
“Prom is such a special time, and especially in this economy, we wanted every
girl to have a chance to go to prom,” said Beth Glascock, administrative officer and one of the Fairy Godmothers
along with Merideth Cooper, MBA, director of business development and
communications, Amy Doyle, MBA., administrative officer, Heather Skaar, P.T.,
director of outpatient rehab services, and Laura Zimmerman, R.N., assistant
administrator.
Instead of a wave of a magic wand and a “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” the Fairy Godmothers had the help of local businesses across Nashville and an
army of volunteers. They collected personal donations of gently used dresses
and accessories and also had donations from stores like Blush Boutique and
Faccio Bridal. When the Lane Bryant store at Hickory Hollow Mall went out of
business, it donated dress racks, display tables and mannequins.
“Our goal was 100 dresses, but we ended up with almost 400 dresses plus jewelry
and shoes,” Cooper said.
The restaurant Chappy’s on Church donated space for the Fairy Godmothers’ “Boutique Day” on March 27, when the girls came to shop for their dresses. There were six
racks bursting with dresses and tables laden with shoes, handbags, jewelry,
wraps and gloves. Nine dressing rooms were erected, with a personal shopping
attendant for each.
Sykera Spinks, a senior at Pearl Cohn High School, found a pink sparkly number
that fit her perfectly.
![From one grateful mother: “[My daughter] actually had chosen n](image/Text269_Copy351.gif)
