Non-profit Founded by Groves Student Helps Give Girls a Special Prom Night
One Groves High School student has gone the extra mile to help her fellow students have their special night
By Brenda Losinski
March 16, 2018
One Groves High School student has gone the extra mile to help her fellow students have their special night.
Danielle Lutz, a high school junior, is the founder of reWEARable, a nonprofit that collects prom dresses and other formalwear accessories to give to other students who might have trouble affording the often expensive outfits.
“Two years ago, I started working with an organization out of Los Angeles that had a similar premise, and I saw that Detroit was so close (to me) and there was such a need there,” said Lutz. “I saw photos of girls in L.A. smiling ear to ear in their new dresses, so helping others in this way is such a great feeling.”
The concept of reWEARable is that instead of allowing old prom dresses and formalwear to gather dust in a closet somewhere, people donate those items to someone who would be able to make the outfit part of their special night.
Lutz brought reWEARable to fruition with a shopping event March 22 at the Detroit School of Arts. There, any student in Detroit Public Schools could come to “shop” for dresses and other items at no cost.
Lutz had originally set a goal of collecting 500 dresses for the event, but she exceeded that objective, collecting more than 800 dresses, as well as hundreds of shoes, jewelry items and other accessories. She said that while helping others is always good, getting to see the joy she helped spread is particularly gratifying.
“It’s going to be so great to see all the people you’re helping,” she said. “It’s not just shipping the donations off to people — you get to see the excitement people have, and it will be incredibly fun to help people.”
The Detroit students at the event responded positively and said that it gave them the chance to look their best.
“I had a good experience,” remarked Jordan Kidd, a senior at Southeastern High School. “My dad told me about it, and I found a dress and shoes. It was perfect. It definitely gave me options, and it helped out moneywise and timewise, and it was so well-organized.”
Not having the added costs of a dress and other expensive prom items, many of the students said, will make the upcoming expenses of college a little easier to bear.
“I got my prom dress, a shawl, a purse, shoes, and matching earrings, necklace and bracelet — pretty much everything,” said Kathrynne Sims, a senior at the Ben Carson High School of Science and Medicine. “It was helpful because I had a dress I found online, but it was $200. This one was free and I like it just as much.”
Lutz will be bringing the program back during her senior year, and she hopes to pass the project down to other high school students to continue reWEARable’s mission in the years to come.
“I would love to do this as long as I can. I am definitely doing it next year, and I would love to form a teen board next year, my senior year, to pass this down to,” said Lutz.
Lutz hopes more people will pitch in and give new or used items so that more young women can experience the magic of prom.
“Once fall comes back, we will start back up again, and if people want to help sort or organize, that’s always appreciated,” she said. “Donations of dresses, shoes, accessories or money are always appreciated. They can do so at www.rewearable.net, and my email is daniellelutz@rewearable.net.”