Blackstone LaunchPad Nonprofit Launches Prom Dress Drive for Low-Income High School Female Students

Area high school female seniors will have the opportunity to attend their spring prom in style if one Blackstone LaunchPad client has her way.

Alicia Robinson, a Kent State University alumna and graduate student pursuing a master's degree in human development and family studies, is coordinating a prom dress drive through her nonprofit organization, Limitless Ambition, to provide area socioeconomically disadvantaged teen girls with gently used prom dresses and accessories to attend their high school senior proms.

"The purpose of our “Purposely Chosen Prom Dress” drive is to provide less fortunate teen girls with a chance to have the prom of their dreams,” says Robinson, founder and executive director of Limitless Ambition. “We believe that every girl should have the opportunity to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event, and we want to do everything possible to help make her prom a memory she will cherish forever."

The prom dress shopping day will take place Saturday, April 5, at 2 p.m. at the Power House Church, 1127 Copley Road. in Akron. The event is free and open to all high school senior girls from Portage, Summit and Cuyahoga counties. Those interested in donating gently used prom dresses or accessories are welcome to drop off their contributions in designated bins at the Women’s Center, the Student Multicultural Center or the Blackstone LaunchPad office in the Kent Student Center no later than March 31.

With the support of Kent State’s Blackstone LaunchPad program, Robinson founded Limitless Ambition late last year as a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, motivating and inspiring at-risk young women to dream, believe and achieve without limits through career coaching, academic assistance and emotional support.  Robinson is currently offering her mentoring services to local high school students and will be launching her summer mentoring program in Warren later this summer. For more information about Limitless Ambition and the “Purposely Chosen Prom Dress” drive, visit www.LimitlessAmbition.org. 

For more information about Kent State’s Blackstone LaunchPad program, visit www.kent.edu/blackstonelaunchpad.