Montville Residents Come Together To Give Needy Students A Lasting Memory

According to a recent article in USA Today, the average family with teenagers will spend $1,078 on prom this year.

Good thing Montville is doing something about it. Montville Social Services, along with Montville teacher Lynn Grills, have joined forces for their prom program, a initiative to help defray the cost of prom to seniors.

As part of the program, nine high school boys were given gift certificates to rent a tux with money donated by residents along with free corsages donated from Montville Florist, according to Kathleen Doherty-Peck, director of Montville Social Services. Also, the group has stockpiled donated prom dresses, so girls can pick one of those instead of spending hundreds on their own, she said.

“Everybody thinks its prom, it isn’t a necessity, and it certainly isn’t,” Doherty-Peck said. “But for a kid who might not be able to go it really is a big deal.”

Additionally, the group is trying to raise money for prom tickets, as it costs $75 a person to attend Montville High School’s prom this year, Doherty-Peck said. There is still time to donate to the program, just contact Montville Social Services at  (860) 848-8820.

About the Program

Montville Social Services has a clothing bank. Last year, they began to get some fancy dresses donated to it, and the group didn’t know what to do with them, Doherty-Peck said.

They asked the schools and found out that Grills had already been doing a prom closet. The two groups joined forces and now have a more robust prom program, Doherty-Peck explained.

The effort has been buoyed by the generosity of the Montville people too, she said. Just as an example, a person was going to buy corsages from Montville Florist for students for the event, Doherty-Peck said. But when Montville Florist found out what it was for, they gave them away for free, she said.

“It is really just wonderful,” Doherty-Peck said. “It is a great, feel-good type of program.”