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It’s time to dig that prom dress out of the closet. And the dancing shoes. The corsage is your own responsibility. A limo might be just a bit too much, and you really don’t have to worry about a date.
This prom is for women only.
The fifth annual Mom Prom will go on Saturday, April 11 at Appletree Terrace, Newberry Estates in Dallas.
“Men? Not really,” said Mom Prom organizer Barb Mikielski, of Dallas. “If you remember your own prom, all of the guys stood by the wall and we girls danced with our friends. So now we get dressed up for a night out together. We have a wonderful meal and we dance. And the guys can stay home.”
This prom is for women over age 21. Younger women can find their own proms.
It’s not a feminist movement or anything. Rather, it’s a chance for a lovely evening and a way to support a good cause at the same time. Mom Proms go on all over the country to benefit local needs.
The Mom Prom in Dallas will raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In a way, it’s Mikielski’s effort to fulfill a PROMise to honor her late brother, Lenny King, who took his own life a decade ago.
“After Lenny died, we had no idea where to turn, how to find our way out of grief and concern and the question of what we could have done to prevent it,” Mikielski said.
It was only through lots of hard work and research that she and her sister found resources to help survivors through the tough times. And now they’re trying to help others.
“We don’t want people to have to go through what we did,” she said. “It’s a tough subject that not everyone can identify with. But for the people who do need help, we’re trying to get the information out there about the resources people have. All they have to do is ask.”
Eight years ago, the sisters started the Suicide Walk in Kirby Park in the fall, but they wanted another way to get their message to people. Mikielski read about the Mom Prom online, contacted the originators and learned how to get one going here.
It’s an evening of great fun. Appletree Terrace will come up with a fantastic dinner, Mikielski said. There will be a cash bar and basket raffles. The first 100 to arrive will get a “Bling Bag,” an adult equivalent of the “goodie bags” at kids’ birthday parties.
Oh, and there will be men on hand. Sort of. Mikielski will bring them out of her basement. Not the guys who live there and spend their time playing video games, either.
“I have about eight or 10 of those life-size cardboard photos, so the women can dance with Johnny Depp or Alan Jackson or Elvis or even that character from ‘The Walking Dead.’ I can’t remember his name, but he’s really popular at the prom,” she said.
When the “men” aren’t on the dance floor busting moves to the music of Crypton DJ, they hang around the photo booth so the women can get mementos of the big night.
There will also be tables with information about AFSP and ways to get involved.
All of the money raised will go to the AFSP. Eighty-two cents of every dollar goes to research and education to help prevent suicide. The group is also involved in lobbying for legislation to develop mental health care and educating doctors and health professionals, both civilian and military.
And 50 percent of the money raised will stay here to provide information to schools and colleges, to bring in speakers and to help train advocates who work with surviving family members, especially in grief counseling.
“This is something I personally am committed to,” Mikielski said. “I am working as hard as I can to help others when this happens.”