100 Mile House group collects formal wear to help grads shine at prom
Published 4:00 pm Monday, October 20, 2025
A group of 100 Mile House women have come together to make high school graduates’ prom dreams come true.
Dress the Dream is a new community grassroots initiative started this year to collect donations of formal wear of all kinds for Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School students to wear during this year’s Dry Grad and Grad Parade. One of the driving forces behind the group is Erin Filtness, a local sales agent for wedding and prom dresses. Filtness said she’s bringing her years of experience in the formal dresswear industry to Dress the Dream.
“We’re accepting donations of all genders and all sizes. We’re hoping to dress all grads and whatever they’d like to wear,” Filtness said.
Filtness said this isn’t the first time 100 Mile House has had a program like this, referring to Cinderella’s Closet, which raised money to buy dresses for grads at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School. She isn’t sure why it folded, but noted its absence has left a hole in the community her group is looking to fill.
Earlier this year, Filtness said she heard about Williams Lake’s new Ever After Attire program, which got running with community donations. Inspired by the idea, Filtness reached out to several friends in the community about getting a program in 100 Mile House off the ground.
“Because of my job, I have a lot of samples I get for selling, so I had a pretty good jumping off point to start donations,” Filtness said. “Not a huge amount but definitely some I could donate, so I thought, ‘what the heck, let’s do this here’.”
Filtness said she reached out to CRD 100 Mile House Library area librarian Shelby Byer, Canadian Mental Health Association community engagement coordinator Kristin Buxton and Northern Lights Tanning’s Jamie Christoffersen-Gauvin. Each woman is contributing their time to the project, with Christoffersen-Gauvin volunteering Northern Lights Tanning as a drop-off point for donations and Byer providing storage at the library. Every Monday, one of the group’s volunteers transfers the donated clothes from the tanning salon to the library.
“I’m so thankful they’re partnering with me, that those three women are stepping up and participating in this,” Filtness noted.
Right now, Filtness hopes the community will be able to provide formal wear of all kinds and sizes in the coming months.
“I know there are a lot of people, myself included, who carted their grad dress around for a long time and never wore it again,” Filtness said. “We would love formal wear of all shapes, sizes and sexes. Suits, tuxes, ties, dress shirts, dresses, shoes, accessories, things for your hair, necklaces, bracelets, formal purses… we would love anything the community can help us with as far as dressing a person in formal wear.”
Dress the Dream will be accepting donations for the rest of 2025 into 2026, with Filtness setting the cutoff date for Feb. 13. This will give the volunteers time to organize what they have ahead of a special fitting for grads and their families.
On March 4 and 5, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the library, Filtness said they will have hour-long blocks of four grads at a time browsing the catalogue to pick out their preferred dress, suit and accessories. She asks that grads register ahead of time by Feb. 6 to secure a time, with Filtness noting precise details on how grads can sign up will be announced later this fall.
Once the grads pick out their chosen attire, Filtness said they’re welcome to make alterations to them and keep them, should they desire.
“They’re welcome to keep it or donate it back at the end of grad. They can alter it. Alterations can change a lot of things in a garment,” Filtness noted. “They are not renting, they are not borrowing, they are being gifted these things. If they would like to return it and donate it back for next year or in years after that, they’re welcome to, but that is completely up to them.”
In the future, Filtness said she would love to see the program grow beyond just serving the grads into bridal and general formal events. For now, however, they’re going to just focus on the grads.
Anyone with any questions about the program or who would like to help is invited to contact Dress the Dream via their Facebook or [email protected]. Filtness said she also hopes the community can reach into their closets and find some formal wear to donate.
“Our community is wonderful. I love being part of this community and helping people in this community,” Filtness said. “I think one of the cool parts of being in this community is how everyone likes to help each other. I would hope that would extend to helping our grads feel amazing on this huge milestone and special day for them. We need as many donations as possible.”
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