‘Every girl deserves that’: Woman loans dresses to low-income Lincoln teens

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — One Lincoln woman is playing the role of fairy godmother to help families who might not be able to afford a homecoming or prom dress.

Amanda Gershon has around 250 dresses in every color and style ready to be put to good use – but without a price tag.

She said she wants to help every student feel included.

“I know right now times are extra tough,” she said. “Every girl deserves that special day where they get to dress up and feel pretty. We don’t get a lot of those in our lifetime, so every teenager needs that self-esteem boost and to have a night of fun.”

She started loaning out the dresses after seeing just how many families around her were struggling with the costs.

She said this project is personal for her.

“I had a single mom who worked two jobs and it was up to us to do the homecoming, prom dresses, things like that,” she said.

Gershon got the idea to create Sandy’s Boutique as an easy way to find a dress they need for any event.

She also offers makeup, nail polish and hair styling.

She decided to add those services because of how much the community stepped up.

“I had a lady donate nearly 100 dresses; she is a retired dancer,” she said. “I had a lady that retired from a makeup service that donated boxes and boxes of makeup. The community has really responded well, and what I thought would be a small project has bloomed into an enormous one.”

And she said they hope to help as many girls as they can in the future.

“We’re going to try to really stock up for prom and have a lot of options for that as well,” she said. “And really get the word out to see how many young ladies we can dress up for the night.”