How sad would high schoolers be if they felt that they couldn’t attend Prom because of financial problems?

Started several years ago, the FRIENDS’ Prom Project Outreach has provided hundreds of Prom Dresses for deserving students. In March of 2023, 18 students from a local Charter School came to the FRIENDS’ office to “shop” for a dress… a dress that was provided for free and given to them to keep as their own. In addition to dress shopping, the FRIENDS include an education piece that provides important information to the students.

Ho’ōla Nā Pua provided an eye-opening short talk to the attendees about the ever-growing problem of youth trafficking. All the students were engaged in the presentation and the FRIENDS hope that the provided information might actually help stop a potential trafficking incident in their future.