Dressed in Kindness

Four hundred dresses—a sequined sea of tulle and taffeta in every shade imaginable—hung on racks, waiting to be plucked, tried on and paraded in front of parents by a high school senior getting ready for her prom.

This teen shopper’s paradise held on April 22 at College Park’s Knights of Columbus hall was organized by Kaitlin Walukonis ’12, alumni relations coordinator for the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and her mother Robin Walukonis, assistant director of finance and administration in the College of Education’s business office. This year, the pair started Pay it [Fashion] Forward, an organization that collects formal dresses and accessories like shoes, handbags and jewelry, and offers them for free to local girls.

Robin had been hoping to start a project like this ever since Kaitlin’s prom. “I think she just had such a fun time dress shopping with me that she wanted to make sure that everyone had an experience like that,” says Kaitlin.

To prepare for this year’s prom season, Robin and Kaitlin collected gently used dresses, shoes and accessories through drives at local community centers and donations from friends and acquaintances. Eventually, the fashion website Rent the Runway caught wind of the Walukonis team’s project, and donated some 70 designer dresses; several local bridal shops also donated.

On the crisp Sunday afternoon that Pay it [Fashion] Forward held its “Fashion Fest,” as the Walukonis duo called it, Kaitlin scrolled through musical selections on her phone, hoping to create just the right vibe to get teenage girls and their moms in the mood for prom. “Cardi B or Rihanna?” she wondered aloud.

Soon, a girl dressed in blue jeans, dark hair piled on top of her head in a bun, walked in with her mom. One of the volunteers—Robin’s and Kaitlin’s friends, colleagues and acquaintances—asked the girl, “If you could pick any dress in the world, what color would it be?” The girl paused. “Burgundy or blue,” she responded. “Long or short?” the volunteer asked. “Long,” the girl said decisively. And they were off, sifting through dresses to find a match.

“We’re very shy,” the girl said of her group of friends at Bowie High School. “We don’t like to show a lot of skin. But I want to try something different, I want to be unique.”

As more girls arrived, the Bowie student tried on a few dresses behind screens in the back of the room. Eventually, she left with a floor-length, spaghetti-strapped burgundy ball gown with a cream-colored sash. Smiling, she hugged the volunteers and promised to have fun at prom.

For the Walukonis pair, the girls’ joy is the biggest reward. “Even if just one girl leaves with a dress, it’s worth it,” says Robin. “I saw one girl jump after she got into the parking lot.”