And just like that, like Persephone emerging from the depths of Hades’ realm, blinking into the strong, pure light of spring, the world seems new and innocent again. It’s Prom season.
News flash: Alice’s Kids has just donated $175,000 to six local Pasadena high schools specifically to cover the cost of 2025 Prom tickets. The participating schools are Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, Aveson Charter, John Muir High School, Blair High School, Rose City High School, and Pasadena High School. The donation, drawn from the nonprofit’s general funds, is intended to pay for 800 tickets. Award-winning actor Steve Carrell lends his likeness to the announcement video.
Boomers may be surprised to learn that Prom is still a thing for otherwise jaded high school seniors. But Prom has come a long way from the proverbial white sport coat and a pink carnation. In fact, for many Prom-goers, the event takes on the grandeur (and expense) of a wedding.
Fortune Business Insights valued the Prom industry at 14.81 billion in 2024. But Mom, Dad, put a pin that sticker shock if you’ve still got tweens at home: the market is projected to grow from $15.54 billion this year to $22.56 billion by 2032. In 2024, North America claimed 32.48 percent of the Prom dress market, a major expense associated with the rite of passage. And social media accelerates the spread of Western fashion and recreation, including the mystique of the Prom.
The dress, of course, is crucial. For example, Los Angeles-based formalwear design house and manufacturerTerani currently offers a broad selection of “mermaid” gowns. This flattering silhouette is favored by women of many body shapes and sizes since the gown, often fabricated in a stretch textile, hugs the torso, then fans out into a soft siren’s tail, usually left long enough to drag as a train. These gowns typically bear a price tag in the range of $338 to upwards of $700 and tend toward the sultry.
And now, variants on the tuxedo for promgoers of any gender designation are on the rise. For instance, HER Tuxedo offers a sharp black-and-white women’s tux with pinstriped trousers or a slightly jazzier version with a jacket lined in red satin. Wedding Weaves keeps it confectionary, and affordable ($149), in taffy pink and white. Men’s wardrobe choices for Prom, as is the case everywhere, have also relaxed and brightened considerably. Personally, we can’t get enough of Opposuit’s iridescent Peppy Pink set (tie included) for a night on the dance floor for the dude who’d dare to rock it.
But hey, wait, there’s more. Attending Prom in style requires more than wardrobe, e.g., matching shoes, handbags, flowers, hair, makeup, and manicures. And, dudette, you can’t have your mom drop you off! Even if you don’t have your California license yet, you need a chill ride. All of this adds up: limousine, corsage, boutonniere, bouquet (let’s not forget chaperone…), and enough other French loan words to drive typical Prom costs well into four digits, no sweat. Well, let’s re-phrase: whoever’s footing the bill is absolutely allowed to bust a righteous sweat when the bill comes due.
And there’s still even more! Schools charge students between $50 and $250 per ticket, depending on the venue and menu. Today’s general economic vibe, combined with the fire devastation Southern Californians have endured since January 7, casts a pall upon families helping kids make Prom memories. To the rescue: a nonprofit with an unusual mission and an unlikely spokesman.
The nonprofit is Alice’s Kids, registered in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2011 by siblings Laura and Ron Fitzsimmons. Their philanthropic spokesman is actor Steve Carrell, who for nine seasons sent audiences into helpless spasms of laughter as the pathetically needy Michael Scott, Regional Manager for the Scranton branch of failing paper mill Dunder-Mifflin.
We caught up with Alice’s Kids Executive Director Ron Fitzsimmons, who said, “It’s surprising, but lots of kids started watching ‘The Office’ during COVID. So there’s a real multigenerational thing going on with Steve and Nancy (Carrell), who have been big supporters of ours for years now.” Other luminaries who support the cause, where in-kind donations are always made anonymously, include Patton Oswald (whose daughter is named Alice), Kevin Bacon, and Eric Roberts.
“I’m not out looking for these people,” says Fitzsimmons. “It’s all a testament to the power of social media!!”
Carrell, as the face and voice of what is, for some, nothing short of a Prom miracle, tickles fans of “The Office,” recalling the “Scott’s Tots” debacle. In this memorable cringe-fest episode, the characteristically grandiose Michael Gary Scott offered college scholarships to graduating Scranton high school seniors. Except that, oh yeah, he didn’t actually have the money. Oops!
Fitzsimmons explains Alice’s Kids is about dignity, devoting its mission to the subtler pain that (even relative) poverty inflicts upon families. The inability to afford Prom tickets is an example. The organization accepts requests from teachers and social workers across the USA for donations needed for expenses which, while seemingly not as critical as food, shelter and medical care, are significant in the lives of children. Awards include funds for field trips, back-to-school clothes, summer camp, musical instrument rentals, team uniforms and equipment, backpacks, sneakers, and Yearbooks. “We just got a request from a teacher for a student who broke his glasses. His family can’t afford a new pair; I mean, can you imagine? This is why our work is not frivolous.”
Anonymity, Fitzsimmons explains, is the secret sauce for Alice’s Kids. “We’re all about respecting and protecting the dignity of our participants,” he says. “There are so, so many organizations that provide emergency funds for families in dire straits. Everybody is coming from a good place with the best of intentions. But not every organization fully understands the shame that often accompanies asking for help, and receiving charity. Even the word ‘charity’ makes some people cringe.”
Fitzsimmons explains that “Kids literally may skip school because they’re ashamed because they can’t pay for a class activity. Or they may be bullied because their clothes aren’t cool. This is how poverty destroys potential.
Since January, Alice’s Kids has served 2,482 children. In 2024, 10,407 children were served by the organization. Of his own background, Fitzsimmons says, “Well, okay, it wasn’t exactly ‘Angela’s Ashes.’ But I felt the stigma of being what society calls ‘poor.’ Our mother – Alice – worked so hard to make ends meet in the early 1960s. Our family received a monthly welfare check that barely covered rent and food. We were known as welfare kids, which we hated. We felt shame. Taking that big box of used clothing from the church was not easy, although, of course, we appreciated having something decent to wear. Our mother tried so hard to make us feel good about ourselves. So now, we lift up kids and families in similar situations. A fresh haircut, or a uniform that fits, can be lifesaving, certainly life-affirming, in its own way.”
