Hundreds of students attended the 17th Annual Prom Clothing Giveaway held at the Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center in Washington Heights Saturday.

The room was packed with a variety of free clothes and makeup.

Organizers say it takes a village to put on an event like this between the new items and gently used clothes from the community.

“For the last few weeks we’ve been picking up from different partners, individual donors knocking on people’s doors at 11 o’clock at night. Give me your prom dresses,” Eddie Silverio, division director at Catholic Charities Alianza Division, said.

What You Need To Know

  • The 17th Annual Prom Clothing Giveaway was held at the Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center in Washington Heights

  • Organizers say events like this one are needed more than ever because of inflation

  • The next giveaway will be held on May 6, which will consist of men’s clothing only

The event was hosted by Catholic Charities Alianza, the Dominican Community Center NYC Inc. and Operation Prom.

Altagracia Hiraldo started the event 17 years ago and says this event was one of the busiest she’s seen.

She said she thinks that one of the driving reasons behind the surge in people attending is inflation.

“This kind of event we need more than ever because everything is very expensive and parents cannot afford it because after you have four years of study to graduate and you don’t want to get a simple dress you want to look beautiful,” Hiraldo said.

Organizers told NY1 they started collecting items for this year’s event last summer.

There were more than 300 garments collected for this year’s giveaway.

Sergio Avilar, a high school senior, said he wants to look on-point for his prom that is coming up.

“This is a new experience for me and my friends. I think this is a great opportunity to get the clothes for our prom,” Avilar said.

According to some students, the clothes at the event seem to exceed expectations.

“One of the young ladies steps up to me and says, "‘Mister I saw the same dress in the store. It was $350 and my dad was like go to the school event and look, I got the dress I wanted.’ I think this is what this event is all about,“ Silverio said.

In Avilar’s case, he wants a three-piece suit. So far, he has the vest.

“I couldn’t find the whole suit,” Avilar said.

He plans on coming back to another give away in a few weeks.

Organizers say they are looking for tuxedo donations for the next one.

Another prom giveaway is being held on May 6, from 11 a.m. 2 p.m. in the same location.

For more information, go to catholicharitiesny.org or call 212-371-1000.