As prom season draws near, North Colonie students have been figuring out ways to make formal dances more affordable to attend. Prom apparel, specifically dresses, is often costly, which is why the Shaker Student Government has been hosting Cinderella’s Closet for the past several years. This year, the Student Government has added another effort to help girls make it to prom—a consignment sale. North Colonie students may be familiar with Cinderella’s Closet, where formal attire is donated and given to girls who ask. Girls can pick dresses or shoes for the prom, winter formal, or homecoming dance without any cost, and the process is anonymous. “We just allow any girls, or anybody, to donate their dresses or shoes, and we give them out to people who may not be able to afford it, or can’t go out on their own to get them. We can have little appointments with them after school and then they can come and see what dresses they want and take them home and keep them,” said Shaker Student Government member and Cinderella’s Closet organizer Maya Lewis. The collection for Cinderella’s Closet goes on all year with the Student Government in charge and Spanish teacher Lisa Morgan as the faculty advisor. Aleyna Sarap of the Student Government said that about 10 to 20 girls come each time there is a formal dance at the school. This year, however, the Student Government is adding a new component to its prom season preparations. A consignment sale is planned for Thursday, March 19, from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, March 21, from noon to 3 p.m. at Shaker High. “When you buy a dress, and it’s $300, and you don’t want to give it to Cinderella’s Closet because it’s so pretty. People don’t want to sell it because they don’t know how to sell it, but we gave them this opportunity now. They can come and put whatever price they want on it, and just sell it at any price they want,” said Sarap. The Student Government has been collecting old prom dresses from anyone in the community, whether it be a South Colonie graduate whose dress has been collecting dust, or someone whose prom has long passed. The donator puts the price on it with 10 percent of the sale going to the Student Government to go toward Cinderella’s Closet. The rest of the sale goes to the donator. There is also the option to attach a card stating where the dress was bought, the brand, and how much was originally spent. “Prom season is coming up, so people are starting to buy dresses…Some people don’t want to pay $600 for Sherri Hill or Jovani,” Sarap said. “If there’s already a dress that was only used once, and you can pay $100, $50 for it, I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to buy that.” A recent collection event turned up about 15 dresses, said Mahnoor Nasir of the Student Government, with some of the dresses originally priced $300, or $400. If the dress isn’t bought at the consignment sale, it is returned to the donator, who can either keep it, or donate it to Cinderella’s Closet. Some people have also donated dresses to the Student Government for the consignment. All the proceeds from those sales go directly to Cinderella’s Closet. The efforts by the Shaker Student Government coincide with other prom dress events throughout the region. At Siena College’s Women’s Expo held the last weekend in February, 99.5 The River hosted a Pay Less for the Dress event, which raised proceeds for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region. According to Sabrina Houser, CEO for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, about $5,500 was raised and 1,400 dresses were collected and dropped off at Best Cleaners dry cleaning locations around the area. With the proceeds, five kids were taken off the program’s wait list, and hundreds of girls got prom dresses for $9.95. People “were thrilled,” said Houser. “Word of mouth spread over The River, so people wanted to make sure they got there early. So everybody was really blown away by the event and really hopes it continues next year,” she said. About 70 percent of the dresses collected were sold at the Expo Another event may be hosted to sell the rest. With Shaker Student Government, extra dresses for Cinderella’s Closet are donated to Salvation Army, Lewis said. Right now, she said the dresses are stored in a small closet that is practically overflowing. “I think this will really allow people to be able to afford the dresses, and that’s really what we’re going for,” said Nasir.