Real People/Retro Romp
A Night Out for Your Old Prom Dress
Betsy Crapps invented a way to let women dress up, cut loose—and do good
Crapps (in pink) at a Bascom, Ohio, Mom Prom that raised funds to help cancer patients
MY MOM was cleaning out closets—that’s how all this started. In 2005, she came for a visit and brought my old prom dresses with her. She’d thought my daughter, then 6, would want to play dress-up. But when I saw the dresses again, I started wondering, What am I going to do with these gowns?
I conspired with a friend to attend an Oscars party in old formal attire. Everyone got a laugh out of it, and soon after, I invited 11 friends out to dinner and dancing in our prom dresses—I called it a “Mom Prom.” People kept stopping to take pictures. It was such a blast that I decided to organize a “prom” event for charity. We charged $10 per person and donated the whole door—$800—to a local homeless shelter. The idea spread by word of mouth, then in the press. Women started throwing Mom Proms all over. When Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update made fun of us in 2011, I knew we’d really made it.
The only requirements for a Mom Prom are that the event be women-only and that the proceeds benefit a charity of the organizers’ choosing. Since the term Mom Prom is trademarked, you do need a license to use it for your event, but we give out the licenses for free. Women have so much on our plates, and this is a time for us to just enjoy each other’s company and support a cause. Since the first Mom Prom, there have been more than a thousand hosted worldwide, and an estimated $7 million has been raised for charity.
I never imagined how much of a force for good a girls’ night out could be. It turns out we all wanted to be a little silly and do something to help others. We just needed an excuse to do it. —As told to Donna Hufnagel
Betsy Crapps, 55, is a high school teacher who lives near Detroit.
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To watch a video about Crapps, visit aarp.org/momprom.