{"id":170974,"date":"2026-04-20T17:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/170974\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:27:13","slug":"gov-mifflin-nonprofit-looking-to-ensure-all-students-have-a-chance-to-enjoy-prom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/170974\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Mifflin nonprofit looking to ensure all students have a chance to enjoy prom"},"content":{"rendered":"

The look on Amarilis Nieves\u2019 face as she stared into the full-length mirror in front of her told the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the color, but it\u2019s definitely not the one,\u201d she said, wrinkling her nose at the magenta dress she was wearing. \u201cIt feels like a curtain wrapped around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dress was a misfire for the 16-year-old Gov. Mifflin High School junior, but she was undaunted. Hanging on rods around the room were dozens more options, and one had to be the right fit.<\/p>\n

Nieves had her pick of any that suited her needs, and didn\u2019t have to worry about checking price tags to stay on budget.<\/p>\n

\"AmarilisAmarilis Nieves, 16, a junior at Gov. Mifflin High School, tries on a prom dress through the Threads of Success group at the high school. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the dresses \u2014 as well as suits, shoes, dress shirts and a variety of accessories \u2014 are all be offered for free to Gov. Mifflin students as part of Prom Palooza.<\/p>\n

Prom Palooza is a special effort of the high school\u2019s student-run nonprofit organization Threads of Success. Led by the school\u2019s social worker, Ashley Berg, the organization provides free clothing, food and supplies to students in need.<\/p>\n

And with the often pricey prospect of prom approaching \u2014 Gov. Mifflin\u2019s will be held May 16 \u2014 members of the organization created Prom Palooza to help take a bite out of the hefty cost for students to attend.<\/p>\n

Amelia Schmidt, vice president of Threads of Success, said prom tickets alone cost $75. And that\u2019s just the start of the cost, as students spend much more to dress for the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a couple hundred of dollars just to go to prom,\u201d the 18-year-old senior said.<\/p>\n

The dresses \u2014 a rainbow of colors in a variety of sizes and styles \u2014 along with all of the other items provided through Prom Palooza are all donated by the local community.<\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left, Nox Clemmens, 17; Lilly DeLoretta, 18; and Amelia Schmidt, 18, all seniors at Gov. Mifflin High School, sort through the Threads of Success storeroom at the high school. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Nox Clemmens, 18, a senior and member of the organization, said the donated items give students a chance to express their style without having to worry about an affordability barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think prom is definitely a time where people can express themselves with how they dress in a more formal way,\u201d Clemmens said, adding that being part of the effort is valuable and meaningful to her.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just clothing that Prom Palooza is offering.<\/p>\n

Lilly DeLoretta, the organization\u2019s treasurer, said local salons have offered low-cost or free hairstyling appointments to be given out, and a couple of students will win free prom tickets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe called a lot of local businesses and they were really willing to help out,\u201d the 18-year-old senior said.<\/p>\n

Prom Palooza will run up until prom, with students able to shop by appointment.<\/p>\n

Threads of Success operates throughout the school year. Anyone interested in donating items to the effort can contact Berg at ashley.berg@gmsd.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The look on Amarilis Nieves\u2019 face as she stared into the full-length mirror in front of her told…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-170974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}