Celebrating 15 years of providing students across Toronto with access to prom outfits, the annual Corsage Project marked a milestone when it hosted it’s annual Boutique Ball last month. Pouring through the doors of the Toronto Reference Library, hundreds of highschool girls were eager to make their way upstairs to the Boutique Ball.
It’s no easy task transforming the library’s event space into a giant closet for hundreds of students. It takes about as many volunteers to make the event happen. For our third year, Toronto Is Fashion was there to volunteer our time.
Previously, we were ‘personal shoppers,’ helping girls pick out the best dress, shoes and accessories for prom night but this year we decided to try something different and were in charge of pashminas. Along with choosing a pashmina, the girls were also able to select shoes and accessories to go with their dress of choice.
We were impressed with this year’s generous support from sponsors, who donate wardrobe items to help cut some of the crazy expenses associated with attending prom. A special, teary-eyed moment for all of the volunteers was hearing a speech from a former participant of The Corsage Project.
Describing her tough circumstances growing up in foster care, she told the crowd of volunteers that she “just came to terms” with the fact that she wouldn’t be able to afford to attend her prom. Her social worker at the time put her in touch with The Corsage Project and the rest is history. Now a graduating college student, and corsage volunteer herself, it was clear her words deeply touched those who are most involved with the organization. Her words also motivated the volunteers and we were reminded why we were all really there in the first place.
We had such a fantastic time volunteering this year and can’t wait to help out again! Seeing students smiling and stress-free, trying to contain their anticipation for upcoming prom night is such a huge reward. Check out some more photos from The Corsage Project 2015 Boutique Ball below. Click an image to enlarge/start slideshow.
