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Cash raised by plastic dress

Student Amy Spencer goes through with her promise to wear a garbage bag to prom for charity
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Amy Spencer and her prom date Kyle Pedro both wear garbage bag-made outfits to prom as a commitment made by Spencer while raising money for two prom-based charities.

After months of campaigning, Terrace high school grad Amy Spencer raised enough money to wear a garbage bag to prom.

The 18-year-old Caledonia Senior Secondary graduate set out to raise $1000 for the Cinderella Project, a charity based in the Lower Mainland that donates prom dresses to girls who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them, saying should she reach her mark she’d be glad to wear a bag to her big night.

While Spencer’s goal was to reach $1000, donations surpassed that amount, with $500 being donated a local cause that too helps grads dress for prom called You’ll Be There.

“As for Amy, that girl’s an angel,” said Darlene Reid, the local woman who organizes You’ll Be There. “For a young person to do that, that’s stellar.”

This year, Reid said she helped dress six Terrace girls dress for prom, and that money from Spencer’s campaign will go toward buying more dresses, shoes and jewellery for graduates next year.

In 2013, Reid wants to expand the locally-based project to Prince Rupert and Kitimat.

“You need all different sizes in all different styles,” said Reid of the prom dresses she sources yearly.  “All the girls who got dresses this year, it was like they were custom made.”

Reid said she also looks for shoes, accessories and dresses all year round for girls who may need them.

This year, girls visited Reids home anonymously, and everything they chose they were allowed to keep, said Reid.

“It’s just like shopping,” she said, adding that members of the community volunteered to do hair, nails, make-up, dry-cleaning and alterations for free.

“The people in this town are totally amazing,” said Reid. “And the girls were beautiful.”

And as for Spencer, she opted to wear not one but a couple of garbage bags to prom this year, which her mother Cheryl Spencer fashioned into a dress. Her date, Kyle Pedro, wore some garbage bags too, sewn into a long coat with a collar, a boutonniere pinned to his chest.

“It was hot,” said Spencer about wearing plastic to prom, adding she was pleased with money raised. “I liked it because some people didn’t even know that it wasn’t a real dress.”