Growing up, my parents always made us donate our old clothes. Part of it was that they were sick of seeing all our clothes strewn about our room 
The other part was that Mother-of-Pearl has always believed in helping out those who are in need. I still have a healthy sense of altruism, I suppose, although my giving is not quite as frequent (or organized) as it was with MoP. My desire to give back has, in part, influenced my career decisions, having worked for the past couple of years at an underperforming high school.
As one of the senior class advisors this year (yeah, because I have nothing else do to in my spare time ), I have seen how fortunate I was to be able to attend school functions with little thought of how they would be paid for. In focusing on prom planning right now, I have had to face the sad reality that some kids will not be attending prom because they cannot afford it. We were extremely fortunate to link up with an organization called Planet Hope, an aid organization that does, in part, help fund underprivileged kids to go to prom. They not only donate dresses, but also pay for prom tickets for kids, making other costs negligible or, at the least, not as burdensome.
For those who have those old bridesmaid dresses sitting in your closet, never to be used again, I hope you will consider donating them to an organization that can help a high school girl be able to feel like a princess on a special night. Even if you don’t have any, maybe your bridesmaids would like to take advantage of these organizations!
Other organizations around the country are:
California:
San Francisco - Princess Project
Sacramento - Cinderella’s Closet
Florida:
Plantation - Becca’s Closet
Illinois:
Champaign - Perfect Prom Project
Chicago -Glass Slipper Project
Massachusetts:
Boston - Fairy Godmother Project
Nevada:
Las Vegas - Las Vegas Prom Closet
New Hampshire
Bedford - The Cinderella Project
New York:
Albany/Saratoga/Schenectady/Rensselaer - Cinderella Project
NYC — Operation Fairy Dust
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia -Fairy Godmothers Inc
Pittsburgh - Project Prom
Texas:
Houston - The Fairy Godmother Project
Austin/Dallas - Prom Shop Project
Washington:
Bothell - Cinderella’s Trunk
CANADA:
Ontario:
Barrie - Ballroom Blitz
Mississauga - Inside the Dream
In Columbus, OH we have Fairy Goodmothers- http://www.fairygoodmothers.com/
It is such a great charity!
I need to let go of my five BM’s dresses I’ve worn! So far I am convinced my future children (daughters) will want to play dress up…I don’t know how like that is. 
what a wonderful concept! Thank you for posting this.
Awesome information here! Thanks for the info, I have some bridesmaid dresses that I just don’t know what to do with.
I’m kind of like you Miss Pearl - I never knew there was another option when getting rid of clothes besides Goodwill. My mom always had a shopping bag in her room and we could always put stuff in there we didn’t want. When we got home from dropping the stuff off, we’d start a new bag. It’s one of the things I hope to pass on to my kids, that donating takes nothing of you and gives everything to someone else
The one in NYC isn’t accepting anymore dress donations. Are there others?
I found some more info online:
Here’s a list of organizations that collects special occasion dresses. Some are the same as posted, but they do have additional sites:
http://www.princessproject.org/princess/resources/events-near-you/
Carrie: Gowns for Girls is run through the Lower East Side Girls Club (http://www.girlsclub.org/). Try to see if they’re still accepting donations.
Great post! I have mailed several dresses to the glass slipper project, I believe. I think that these are fabulous charities, providing a great service to young girls!
Such a great post! I’m always looking for more ways to help kids that are held back from these types of life experiences! Thank you for posting!!!!
thank you for adding links to your site for Canada!! much appreciated!
Hi, as the founder of The Perfect Prom Project I wanted to send you my thanks for posting this. Getting the word out is such a crucial part of the organization and we really appreciate you sharing this information with people.
Here is the website for the Perfect Prom Project again: http://ucprom.com
Mrs. Pearl, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 26, High school history teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 37, Software engineer
Engagement Date: No official date, we just decided :-)
Wedding Date: July 2007
Venue: St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Church, Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel
About Me: Mr. Pearl and I have been together for about four and a half years now. We've been "engaged" since 2004 and were originally supposed to get married in June 2006, but postponed the wedding to July 2007. I love shopping for housewares and office supplies, music, reading chick lit, football, and the diverse world of Los Angeles dining.
Nice. Plus you can give yourself a little extra in the wedding budget by taking the tax write-off for your charitable contribution.