She also solicits donations for items such as restaurant gift certificates to give students. When a student makes a request for help, she collects sizes, then glances at their Facebook page to get an idea of their style and personality. She is so detailed about her volunteer work with students from Columbus North, Columbus East and Hauser high schools and surrounding cities that she mentally keeps track which dresses ended up at which proms "so you do not see that dress at the same school the following year," she said.
It reads: “Kindness is always fashionable.Generally, Hillenburg-Holley asks students to return dresses, suits and tuxes after the big event so they can be shared with others the next year. And the Prom Mom is leaving everyone with a thought recently posted on her Facebook page. “I just don’t know.”īut one thing for sure, her car can relinquish its role as a closet. She froze when she thought about what she will do with herself next prom season. “Keep pushing,” she answered with a smile. What is God saying to her amid all this hustle and bustle? Someone asked about her cross-shaped earrings and her Baptist faith.
With all this going on, plus having a full-time home health care job and caring for her ill mother, it’s little wonder that Hillenburg-Holley is powered by Mountain Dew and sleeps fitfully these days. In recent years, she has helped create bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. Generally, Hillenburg-Holley asks students to return dresses, suits and tuxes after the big event so they can be shared with others the next year. “That’s amazing,” Booth said of Hillenburg-Holley’s expansive efforts. While Hillenburg-Holley recently recounted her work through the years, she also met with Rikka Booth, a former special education teacher interested in becoming the new Prom Mom. Her own son Joshua is developmentally disabled. It also means something that the Prom Mom works to make sure special-needs students such as Hart, who has autism, get to the big event. She can scarcely highlight her favorite part of it. Hannah Hart, a 20-year-old Columbus North senior, wore one of the gowns to the prom last year. Today, via the power of social media, plenty of students and parents know. “I never even knew back then that there was a Deana,” Reese said.Īt the time, news about prom help traveled slowly, by word of mouth. The work reminds Reese, a 1994 Columbus East grad who didn’t attend her senior prom because her dad was laid off and her family was hurting financially, how important Hillenburg-Holley is. Reese and Whicker have been Hillenburg-Holley’s assistants for years. Others donate restaurant gift certificates. Lynn Reese of Photolicious Keepsakes offers discounted photo packages and daughter Hanna Michaelis helps with makeup. So she has a soft spot regarding the pricey part of prom that keeps some students from attending.Ĭonsequently, she has volunteered alongside others such as Allison Watters of The Glass Slipper project in Brown County to find donated dresses, and for-free stylists such as Rene Whicker and others at The Cameo Room. She desperately worked to buy her own prom dresses in 19 partly because she did not want to stand out as a student without means. Hillenburg-Holley herself grew up financially struggling in Columbus. It tugs on my heartstrings,” Hillenburg-Holley said. “Last week, I had a girl break down crying in the parking lot after she picked up a dress - all because she felt so pretty,” Hillenburg-Holley said, referring to a scene at The Cameo Room, a hair shop serving as an unofficial headquarters. But this is the last year in this role for Hillenburg-Holley, allowing her to focus on other priorities.