High school students who had been unable to afford their proms shopped at the Queens Center Mall after winning a contest that awarded them with free suits and dresses.
“There was a strong desire in the community for children to attend their prom, but not being able to do so because of cost,” said Dawn Simon, spokesperson for Queens Center Mall. “When you start adding up the costs of the tuxedos and the dresses and the shoes and the limo, it’s almost like a mini wedding.”
On Sunday, May 1, seven boys picked out suits, shirts and ties provided by Quails and Maestro as part of the “Get Prom-ed” contest.
Seven girls chose a dress, handbag and shoes from Social Apparel, a necklace from Markens Jewelers and a hair consultation and styling from Natural Look Aveda Salon. All also received a $50 gift card from H&M.
Jasleen Kaur, 17, from East Elmhurst entered the contest because of her family’s financial problems with tenants who did not pay their rent.
The Francis Lewis High School student said, “I decided to enter the contest and I won, so that was great.”
Candice Ramoutar from Astoria said that her father had seen the commercial for the contest on TV and thought she might be a candidate.
“My dad had leukemia, so funds were kind of tight,” said the 17-year-old. “It really helped out a lot.”
She happily tried on a bright pink dress at Social Apparel.
“We continuously talk with mall management and the marketing department about opportunities . . . to do things for the community,” said Joon Kim, owner of the store. “I thought it was a great idea because I understand how important the prom is for a lot of these young girls, how stressful it could be.”
Candice’s mother, Diana Ramoutar, said, “I’m proud of her because she’s an honor student . . . she does stuff for her church like going out to feed the homeless.”
“So here I am, picking out my suit,” said Daniel Scarpati, a senior at Christ the King Regional High School, as he browsed suit jackets for his prom at the end of May.
His mother, Margaret, found out about the contest in a newspaper, compelling him to enter because of the medical costs posed by her kidney stone.
“We’re very grateful, because the ambulance costs, the other co-payments and hospital costs started adding up…,” said Margaret Scarpati, Daniel’s mother.
