One Hillsborough County teacher is helping to make sure students have a dress for prom and homecoming.
Stephanie Brown runs Gowns for Girls. She started the nonprofit in 2019 after one of her students couldn't afford the 8th-grade dance.
Ever since it's become a community effort.
Gowns, mostly new, are donated by community members, and, for no cost, local students can come pick one up.
Brown said seeing the smiles on the students' faces makes all the hard work worth it.
"I have just seen some children come to us and just leave in tears, and that just breaks my heart. It just makes me want to do more and just cover more and how can I get to more people. So it's just about paying it forward. I just, I don't know, I feel like I'm a really lucky person, and I just want to make sure everybody else has the same kind of luck I have," said Brown.
The organization also donated dresses to schools in North Port to help after Hurricane Ian.
If you have gowns you'd like to donate; you can drop them off at Tide Cleaners in Valrico.
You can also click here for more information and how to get involved. They are also looking for a boutique space to better suit the needs of the community.
