Dressed in Love Ministries Inc. came to the Brook on Friday, March 10 during lunch and after school to provide free prom dresses to students. Dressed in Love Ministries is a company that provides free dresses, shoes and accessories for prom.

“My husband and I started to brainstorm this idea with some close friends of ours and decided to give it a shot in the winter of 2015,” says founder, Jennifer Williams.

The inspiration for the company stems from William’s own high school experience. Even as a teenager, she had always loved dressing up for prom. But although she was able to attend prom all four years of high school, getting a prom dress wasn’t always an easy task.

“I grew up in Delaware as a pastor’s daughter and we never had a lot of money, especially for a prom dress. I wore a lot of hand-me-down clothes and borrowed a lot of dresses,” Williams explained.

Nethertheless, Williams actually found the hand-me-downs to be unique and enjoyed wearing them.

Williams further explained how the idea for the name came from a bible verse.

“I decided to call it “Dressed in Love Ministries” with the thought of a passage from Colossians 3:12-14 “So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”

Besides going to schools, Dressed in Love Ministries also has a boutique located at Ashton Baptist Church, 17826 New Hampshire Ave, Ashton, MD 20861. Girls can walk in,(no appointment needed) and pick out the prom attire that best suits them without having to worry about returning it. The company also collects donations year-round and are now in the “pending” stage of becoming an official non-profit organization.

Since the start of the company in 2015, Dressed in Love Ministries has helped approximately 200 girls. Last fall they provided free homecoming dresses for the first time to Springbrook students. They also provided attire for guests attending the Tim Tebow Night to Shine, which is a special needs prom.

“We wanted the items to be free not only because God’s love is free and that is what we are demonstrating, but also because prom is an expensive event already and we want every girl to have an equal opportunity to be a part of that night. Every girl deserves the chance to dress up and be the princess for the night,” Williams explained.

If Springbrook students missed the chance to see them on Friday, they can visit their boutique. Dressed in Love Ministries is teaming up with Paparazzi for accessories and The Temple: A Paul Mitchell Hair School for hair and makeup on prom day for female Blue Devils.