MATTAWA — Johanna Bucio had a hard time coming to a decision on her dress for the Wahluke High School prom - there were so many choices. In the end she chose a short dress in a deep cinnamon red, with layers of tulle in the skirt that gave it some drama. It wasn’t sparkly; the bag and shoes she chose will provide that.

“I like the color,” she said.

The volunteers at the “Dress Express” event at WHS Saturday who put Bucio’s choices in the shopping bag both agreed she would look smashing.

It was the first year for the Dress Express, designed to give prom dresses a second life, help WHS girls find just the right dress, and encourage them to pass on a kindness or two. Girls were invited to pick a dress and accessories for the school prom, go to the dance and, if they don’t have plans for additional formal dances, return the dresses for other girls to wear in the future.

Organizer Carolyn Holmes said the idea came from a similar event in Des Moines, where she was a gymnastics coach.

“I really felt there was a need, and I think the life lesson is giving and helping,” Holmes said. “Giving back, paying it forward, and volunteering.”

The girls who found a dress will be encouraged to return the dress to school after the prom.

“We told all the kids that was the deal,” Holmes said. “They can bring this dress back.”

Holmes said she realized shopping for a prom dress requires a drive of at least an hour for girls from Mattawa, a trip that might be hard to fit into busy family schedules. And prom dresses can get pretty expensive. In light of that, Holmes and her friend and neighbor Holly Phelps started thinking about what they could do.

It had been a while since WHS had a prom, what with the COVID-19 pandemic, so they wanted the girls to be able to dress up, Phelps said. And it was possible there were prom dresses out there.

“So we leveraged the school, we leveraged our beautiful communities of Desert Aire and Mattawa, and reached out to friends and family, all the way out to other states,” Phelps said.

And boy, were there prom dresses out there.

“We just got tons of prom dresses donated,” Phelps said.

Holmes, a former gymnastics competitor and coach, has friends up and down the West Coast, and asked them for leads and donations. She contacted one of the athletes from her gymnastics team.

“She put out a call (on social media) to anybody I ever coached. ‘Coach needs help. We’ve got to get your dresses. Get your sister’s dresses, get your wedding bridal dresses.’ I met her in North Bend and she had 145 dresses,” Holmes said.

Holmes scoured thrift stores too and got dresses from friends as far away as Southern California. She started a donation account to buy dresses in less common sizes, and supplement the donations of shoes, purses and jewelry.

“We had cash donations, where we put 100% of that to purchasing new items,” Phelps said.

They ended up with about 500 dresses, and with that many girls had plenty to choose from.

“We have dresses from (size) zero to 22,” Phelps said.

“We wanted to have as many sizes, and we wanted short and long,” Holmes said. “Some girls wanted nothing on (the dress), they wanted to do it with the jewelry.”

Belica Saldana opted for the long, sleek look, not a lot of ornamentation, letting the color and shape make the statement. Her sister Lyia Rogel wanted a dramatic short skirt, lots of layers, and lots of sparkle. They brought along an adult for some advice.

“They’re the opposite,” said Lorena Calderon, who was helping the sisters find just the right dress bag and shoes.

“I’m their tia (aunt),” she said.

Volunteers circulated among the racks, helping girls with their choices. Volunteer Susie Miller talked with a girl considering a short navy dress.

“That one is really cute,” Miller said. “The reason I know is my daughter wore it.”

The prom was a special night for her daughters, Miller said, and she wanted the girls at Wahluke to have the same feeling.

“It’s so fun when they find (the right dress),” she said.

She pointed to a girl who had made her selection.

“She has her green dress and she’s just beaming. Their smiles are awesome,” Miller said.

“Oh, look at that blue one,” Holmes said, as a girl walked by, dress in hand, looking for shoes. “This is one of my favorites. Isn’t that an awesome color on her? She’s going to be gorgeous.”

But the choice in shoes was proving troublesome, and Holmes was summoned to help.

“It’s got a lot of sparkle. She might need plainer shoes,” Holmes said as she walked away.

Phelps said the goal was to make prom an event for the girls to remember.

“And I think what’s really nice here is the whole lesson is giving back,” Phelps said.

She was interrupted as a pair of girls, having found the dress, stopped by to say thanks.

“Have a wonderful time. You’re going to look beautiful,” Phelps said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at [email protected].