North Huntingdon church helps girls find the perfect prom dress — for free

More than 100 girls sifted through racks of tulle and silk in many hues Saturday morning at Norwin Christian Church, searching for their perfect prom dress.

The Dressed in Joy event transformed the North Huntingdon church into a boutique featuring rows of donated dresses, piles of high-­heeled shoes, jewelry and makeup. The event, hosted by members of the church’s Blessings Boutique, offers girls in the region the opportunity to shop for prom for free.

“The mission of the whole boutique is to share God’s love with the community and with the people that come in the doors,” said Kristie Deemer, Blessings Boutique co-­chair. “What we’re trying to do is provide a service for people that we found can be very expensive, so what we want to do is offer the girls who come in our doors a boutique-like shopping experience for free.”

The event, in its second year, attracted 165 girls to the church, not including walk-ins. Each girl was partnered with a personal shopper who helped them pick a dress from the 900 that were donated for the event. Sixteen fitting rooms lined the walls of the church. After a dress was selected, girls could choose matching shoes and jewelry.

Downstairs, another volunteer helped attendees find makeup that matched their skin tone.

“I am absolutely loving the community, all of these wonderful dresses,” said Jennifer Hill, 14, of Belle Vernon. “I’m thanking the Lord for giving all of these wonderful people an opportunity. I think this is a great thing that’s happening right now.”

Hill, who is home-schooled, was on the hunt for a green dress that is “a little bit more extravagant since it’s my first prom. I want to kind of bring that wow factor.”

Lindsey Kerchner, 16, of Latrobe was able to quickly snag a light pink dress that she plans to wear to the Westmoreland Homeschool Prom.

“The selection is huge, and they are so helpful,” she said.

Montana Dodrill, 16, of Hempfield stood confidently in a dark, peacock-themed dress.

“It’s amazing,” Dodrill said “There’s so many dresses and so many people. The people are so nice here, they really hyped me up.”

Several people milled around the church throughout the event, which featured an artist, refreshments and a reverse raffle.

According to Heather Brown, who is a boutique co-chair alongside Deemer, the event was first held in 2020, prior to the covid-19 pandemic. That year, around 300 dresses were donated for the event that was attended by about 100 girls. Last year, the event was by appointment only because of the pandemic.

For this year’s event, Brown said she used social media sites including Facebook and Instagram to promote donations, while also inviting girls from each high school to attend.

“Everything that you see here is a donation,” Deemer said. “Everybody is kind of coming together to try to show high school girls that they are valued, that they are cherished and that they matter. We have learned that just because of our faith and we know that’s what God tells us to do. We want to make sure we share that with others.”

Neither expected this year’s event to grow as large as it did, with girls waiting for the doors to open at 10 a.m.

“We’ve worked really hard,” Deemer said. “I don’t mean just the two of us. I mean everybody you see here has worked so hard to make this happen, and then you see all these girls show up and God is blessing us because it is happening on a bigger scale than we had imagined it to be.”