An Omaha dress shop has come to the rescue of some Iowa teens who may have missed their shot at a homecoming dance.
A little over a month ago, an F-3 tornado ripped through Marshalltown, Iowa and caused extensive damage. The town of about 27,000 lost two of their stores where formal dresses were sold and homecoming was in danger of being cancelled.
That is where Cinderella's Formal Dress Rental, owned by Terri Smieja, stepped in. "Of course we have to help these girls because that's what we do for a living already." Smieja's store will donate roughly 600 dresses, 150 of which came from a call-to-action on social media, to the girls of Marshalltown on Saturday.
Smieja told 6 News that without the dresses, there may not have been a dance. "They said when I stepped up and said 'I'll donate', they were in tears, 'you literally saved our homecoming.' We never had such a wonderful thing happen to our high school."
The best part is that the juniors and seniors will be able to keep the dresses, free of charge of course. "This is a small town that still needs our help...make sure the community gets out there and reach out." says Terri.
Freshman and sophomore girls will be able to pick their dress for 15 dollars, with half the money going back to the school.
(Photo courtesy of 6 News)