PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) PAL hosted a free prom boutique on Thursday night for local teens.
16-year-old Janayah Cutchins looks runway read. She's trying on dresses for an important event coming up.
"I'm actually looking for a prom dress today. My prom is May 13th," said Janayah.
She tried on a few stunning dresses at the prom boutique set up inside the Cozen PAL Center in North Philly. The Police Athletic League held the event for than 200 girls from PAL Centers around the city. The girls get almost everything they need for the special day which can be prom, a school dance, even graduation and it's all free.
"I have this dress and I also have this one," said Hannah Klevans.
It's a big help for many families like the Klevans girls. They're getting ready to experience their first pageant.
"I came looking for like a purple dress and shoes," said Adriana Klevans
Outfitting three sisters can come at a hefty price. PAL is helping lighten the financial burden.
"All these dresses are pretty too and I think it's cool instead of my mom spending all that money for three of us," said Hailey Klevans.
From dresses, to shoes, to makeup and nail polish. Longtime volunteers like Daineen Jones are lending a helping hand.
"I look at the dress to see if it's age appropriate, if it's too short and what they're wearing the dress to but making sure it's age appropriate is something that's important to me," said Jones.
It's the 8th year for this event which organizers say is all about helping families and children.
"What we get? Cops helping kids. This is what it's all about. Seeing them happy makes us happy," said Lieutenant Bill Eddis.
Nancy Rounbehler with Cozen O'Connor said, "Not everybody's fortunate to have the opportunity to go buy a dress. One girl last year said that she was so thankful and she said I'm going to remember this always. And you hope they do."
Everything was donated by big corporations and individual donors. PAL even provided transportation for the girls to get out to the different centers that hosted prom boutiques.