“It was something so little and I thought I’d do two or three (dresses),” she said. “It just blew up. What started as two outfits turned into 40 then 50 dresses,” she said. “There are lots of kids who can’t go to homecoming because they can’t afford a dress.”
For the past several days, Calhoun’s living room has become a walk-in closet, full of dresses donated by people throughout Middletown. As of Tuesday evening, she had collected more than 50 dresses and the emails and calls keep coming in. As word got out on social media, other parents, teachers and residents passed along dresses hoping to see another dance.
With the MHS homecoming at the end of the week, Calhoun has been getting messages to pick up dresses. On Monday, she received and distributed 26 dresses and on Tuesday she distributed another 25 dresses. She said some teachers at MHS have helped six other students get dresses.
Calhoun said she has been told by some MHS students that they will pass along their previously worn dresses so that others can get some use out of them. She said she’s also going to continue helping students who can’t afford a dress “so that they can be a princess for a night.”
She also is passing along shoes and accessories and has a friend who’s donating some time to help the girls with make-up and another friend who owns a floral shop that is offering discounts for flowers.
Middletown parent Brandy Hall said Calhoun’s efforts mean the world to a child who “can’t control the financial resources of parents to provide an opportunity that’s important.”
She said two of her daughter’s friends were able to get dresses through Calhoun.
“It was kind of disheartening that she had friends who didn’t have dresses,” Hall said of her daughter. “For her (Calhoun) to provide everything really helped and made it doable. It was nice to let them know these are available and the word got around. It’s going to be a life memory for her.”
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