Glamorous: Benalla P-12 College students Bailey Bickerdike, Koren Bonnitcha, Ella Willet and Beth Barrow-Glass show off some of the deb ball dresses available at the new formal wear library.
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Benalla P-12 College is developing a formal-wear library led by a team of three staff members.
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Like borrowing a book, students can borrow debutante dresses, suits and formal dresses from the library.
“To us, it is crucial that every student attends a social event and does not miss out because formal-wear costs are prohibitive,” Benalla P-12 staff member Cheree Montgomery said.
“Our goal is to collect a variety of sizes, colours, and types of dresses from the community.”
Over the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social engagement opportunities and community connections for Benalla’s youth, having a dramatic effect on overall wellbeing.
Dream team: Eva Chic, Cheree Montgomery and Sarah Mundy are the team behind a new Benalla initiative.
The initiative began in the hope of bringing back a debutante ball for the students by addressing the core issues, as brought up by students.
“In the hopes of restarting a debutante ball for our students, we discussed our concerns about students who wish to participate but would miss out due to cost,” Ms Montgomery said.
“A teacher at another local government school mentioned hiring companies one to two hours away from our school.
“This may only be practical for some of our families.
“Determined not to have any child miss out, the team met and discussed the idea of setting up a local formal-wear library.”
Suit up: Benalla students Tyler Begnone, Seth Rees, Shayne Kaltsis and Kyle Termorshuizen.
The group hopes to continue to support students’ needs in regard to attending debutante balls.
“We intend to build a sustainable library that will grow over time and serve local communities' youth.
“Additionally, this initiative hopes to show our students how the local community supports them.
“This is so that no student misses out due to economic disadvantage.”
Students hoping to rent a dress will need to pay a bond and dry-clean the garment before returning any items.
To donate any dresses, suits or other formal attire, contact Ms Montgomery or Eva Chic at the Faithful St campus or drop off your donation to any campus reception.
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