Over the past two years, we've seen story after story about the COVID-19 pandemic preventing young people from being able to take parts in rites of passage typically associated with high school due to events being canceled and social distancing preventing them from taking place in a normal manner.

Graduation ceremonies were held in drive-through formats — which was great thinking on the part of school districts that held them, but they still didn't feel the same as a typical graduation.

Proms, sporting events and other typical high school activities that generations have enjoyed — and probably taken for granted — were either canceled or adapted to COVID-19 protocols.

But long before the pandemic, some students in the county were already facing the possibility of not being able to attend one of high school's favorite rites of passage — prom — due to financial reasons.

Michelle Simon and her husband, Don, have been trying to remedy over the past seven years after taking over a wonderful program from the K-LOVE radio station that offers free donated prom dresses and shoes to girls who cannot afford their own.

"There's no registration, we don't ask for any kind of financial proof that you are a low-income family," Michelle Simon said. "We always tell the girls that the cost of the dress is your gift of kindness to someone else — so basically just pay it forward."

The program — known as Bless a Dress — is scheduled to be held this year from 4 to 8 p.m. April 7 and 8 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 9 at the Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena in Cheswick.

Simon noted that the event — which was canceled last year due to COVID-19 — typically gets a large assortment of styles of dresses and shoes, both used and new. Seamstresses attend the event to make alterations for those who select a dress.

Simon said that Butler is an area that frequently draws attendees who cannot afford a dress. We're very glad to see such a wonderful event making its return after — like so many other activities — being called off last year due to the pandemic.

Butler County residents who want to do their part to support Bless a Dress can do so by dropping off dresses at the donation boxes at Jerry's Car Wash in Cranberry Township or The Print Shop in Mars.

We hope that the donated dresses help make for a wonderful prom experience for those who select them.

— NCD