Hillsborough Township’s long-running prom dress sale is set to return this weekend.
For the past 29 years, Hillsborough High School’s “Project Graduation Project” has given students the opportunity to enjoy their post commencement festivities and celebration safely.
As part of this project, the township has a team of members for Hillsborough High School’s Project Graduation, and one of the events set up each year by the members to support it is the prom dress sale at the high school.
This year’s event will take place on Jan. 25 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., where gently used prom dresses will be on sale as part of a fundraiser.
The sale will be held in the Hillsborough High School atrium on 466 Raider Blvd., Hillsborough. Officials said it is a “cash-only” sale, and the proceeds will go to support Project Graduation.
Started by the Hillsborough Township’s Youth Services, the project is a drug and alcohol-free event on graduation night and is free for all graduates. The money for the event is raised through donations and fundraising events.
One of the events is a prom dress sale held at the high school. The event welcomes high school females in the area to try on dresses. Coordinators said prices of the dresses typically range from $25-50, and offer a variety of long and short dresses in all different sizes and styles.
Alongside the dress sale, another main fundraiser associated with Project Graduation is the annual fashion show in the auditorium of the Hillsborough High School where senior girls and boys model their prom dresses and tuxedos.
“Project Graduation provides a safe and fun filled alternative to party hopping, and keeps the graduates together and off the roads preventing them from becoming an accident statistic,” the event coordinators said. “Since Project Graduation is a free event, the dress sale is one of our fundraisers. The event is held at Dave & Busters at Franklin Mills Mall in Pennsylvania.
“We provide busing, shirts, additional entertainment, food and gift card giveaways. It’s a great night. Other fundraisers are our annual fashion show held on Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Seniors model formal wear and our younger models wear casual clothing. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and would love to have this included in the article as well,” the coordinators said.
Coordinators for Project Graduation said that the group needs to raise between $35-40,000, which includes the transportation costs, paying for the venue, food and gift cards.
In doing so, the prom dress sale is one of the group’s main fundraisers. Coordinators said the dress sale not only helps raise funds for the high school event, but helps high school students in the area.
Coordinators said that they are still open to receiving dress donations for the sale event this month or at any time afterward during the year to save for next year’s event.