Success with a dress: Nonprofit provides 100 free prom dresses for Sarasota teens

Shay Haygood wants to make sure every girl is ready for the prom. 

After starting Women on the Way Inc. in late 2019, Haygood hosted Pretty for Prom on Feb. 22 at Suite Affairs Event Studio, where the nonprofit gave away more than 100 dresses to girls in the Sarasota-Manatee area in partnership with Miami organization Be U Productions.

“There are a lot of parents who can’t afford to send their child to the prom in the way that they might want to,” Haygood said. “It felt important to give back to this community because I was born and raised here. (Haygood now lives in Tampa.) So where better to do an event like this?”

The nonprofit supplied  dresses, shoes, purses and jewelry. It also partners with local businesses to supply the girls with day-of-the-dance services, such as hair, nails and makeup appointments.

Haygood was inspired to host the event after meeting Brenda Floyd, founder of Be U Productions, at one of the organization’s prom events in Mulberry. Floyd started giving out prom dresses to inner-city Miami school students in 2009 and estimates that Be U has helped nearly 500 girls find prom dresses.

“With the tickets, the dresses, the ride and hair appointments, prom can be very costly,” Floyd said. “We wanted to help cut down some of that expense. We try to do whatever we can do to help make their night special.”

Haygood and Floyd both reached out to their communities for donations of new and slightly used dresses. They received gowns sizes 2-24 in enough styles and colors to fill three racks.

Girls picked out their favorite choices to show off to their family members. They then moved to the other side of the store to choose matching accessories.

Makayhla Lowe, a junior at Manatee County’s Southeast High School, attended the dress event to find a dress for her military ball March 12. 

The 16-year-old was drawn to a periwinkle lace dress with white beads stitched into it.

Although she was hoping to find a purple dress, Lowe said she was drawn to the lace and knew it was the right one for her.

Lowe said she came across the flyer for the dress giveaway on Facebook and wanted to give it a shot rather than spending $200 on a new dress — something she said can be difficult to do because she’s tall.

“It’s a great opportunity for those who need a dress, have a hard time finding a dress or don’t really have time to shop,” said Shontez Williams, Lowe’s mother. “It was very nice for them to drive for hours just to help our community.”

But beyond saving money on her military ball dress, Lowe said she was happy to see an event that focused on helping girls in the area find dresses that they would be comfortable in.

For Haygood, making sure the girls felt comfortable and boosting their self-esteem was one of her major goals for the event. She said Women on the Way plans to eventually provide self-esteem classes to continue to help women feel empowered.