• The Flagstaff Fairy Godmothers–This group, which also calls itself the Elks Ladies of Flagstaff Elks Lodge #499, has been working for years to help girls from northern Arizona who otherwise couldn't afford to go to their proms.

  "Some people in town go out and buy a new dress just to donate it," says Janice Trumpp, a founding member. The women collected more than 500 dresses and evening gowns; they gave them out on April 11 and 12. For information about the program, contact http://hometown.aol.com/storybookbridal.

• The Glass Slipper Project–This Chicago group has dressed more than 10,000 girls.

Kimberly Fisher, a board member of the organization, says a special relationship develops between each adult volunteer and the high school girl she helps during the short time they are picking out a dress together. "We train our volunteers to be very conscientious about the girls they serve," she says. "At first, the teenagers are always a little on guard. By check-out time, however, the volunteer and the girl she's working with are best friends, exchanging phone numbers, and promising to send pictures."

The organization is running its prom dress "boutiques" on April 21, April 28 and May 5. Contact http://www.glassslipperproject.org.

• The Princess Project–For the past five years, this San Francisco-based organization has helped more than 5,000 Bay Area girls feel beautiful by providing them with dresses and accessories, as well as complimentary goodie bags containing everything from make-up to beauty-related gift certificates to help them feel confident and gorgeous on prom night. (Photos on this page were taken at one of the 2006 Princess Project boutiques.)

This year, the dress donations were scheduled for distribution during the week ending March 24th. For four nights during the week, specific youth groups enjoyed attending the special "boutiques" at which selected their free eveningwear.

Wanda Cole-Frieman, event chair and vice-president of the group's board of directors, explains how the Princess Project gets dresses 1) Community members bring their barely-worn dresses to drop-off sites around San Francisco; 2) Corporations and retail stores donate brand new dresses. More than 2,000 have come from Ann Taylor, Macy's, and Loehmann's, as well as from small dress shops in the community that donate year after year, she says; and 3) The group buys dresses using cash donations made to the Princess Project.

"Prom has strong emotional tugs," says Cole-Frieman. "It's a rite of passage." She says the Princess Project wants every girl, from size 0 to size 40, to "feel glamorous and beautiful and self-confident."

Last year, she says, they served girls from 235 high schools, 192 zip codes, and 80 different cities. This year, they amassed more than 4,000 dresses.

Contact http://www.princessproject.org for details about this year's dress giveaway and to learn about the organization's year-round efforts to run the annual event.

• The Fairy Godmother Project–This Massachusetts program began eight years ago when one mom saw a similar project profiled on television. "We realized we've got girls right here who could use our help, and we've got lots of dresses hanging in our closets," says Denise Hebert, a travel agent and mother of two.

The first year, the group dressed 60 girls; last year, more than 500 girls were recipients of beautiful dresses and accessories. The group has had two boutiques in 2007; the last took place on March 24. For information about the program, contact http://www.fairygodmotherprojectofma.org