Every year, part of the St. Andrew Methodist Church gets transformed into a pop-up store called the Prom Closet, where students can find racks upon racks of dresses in every color and size, along with all the accessories to make their prom gowns pop. The best part; everyone pays the same price.

“Absolutely zero dollars,” St. Andrew Women’s Pastor and volunteer personal shopper Allyson Johnson said. “Which is fantastic!”

Students get one prom dress, accessories, and shoes for the bargain price of $0.00.

“One of the women that was on the committee that started it, her daughter had told her about girls at her school that weren’t going to prom,” Johnson said. “They stated they didn’t think they could go because they couldn’t afford a dress and all of the stuff for prom, and so that gave them the idea to start something like this.”

The Prom Closet started in 2009 with 35 young women getting prom dresses, free. Last year more than 1,000 students shopped for their dresses at the Prom Closet, where they have sizes from 0 to 30. Their mission is simple; money should not be a barrier to go to prom.

“I’m really looking forward to prom this year. REALLY looking forward,” senior Rylee Jones said. “It’s almost time for me to graduate and I’m gonna be sad to see it go when I do, but I’m really looking forward to it!”

Jones and her mother looked for the perfect dress with the help of Johnson, her personal shopper for the day.

“Just seeing them feeling really good about themselves and their preference and their style, and it kind of empowers them to look into the beauty of something and realize that everyone is beautiful,” Johnson said.

“I felt like a queen,” Jones said. “It was great!”

Jones picked a mermaid-style black and white dress. “I love this one,” Jones said. “It’s so pretty!”

“She said ‘yes’ to the dress,” Johnson said smiling.

The St. Andrew Prom Closet is open through March 1. Students shop by appointment. You can find the sign up schedule here.