news-record.com

The prom is a rite of passage many young women never forget.

But the costs can be daunting.

Prom dresses can cost hundreds of dollars, not an easy purchase for some families trying to make ends meet in these tough economic times.

But how about a prom dress for $25 instead?

Goodwill and a Greensboro dress retailer want to make that happen.

Until Friday, 15 stores that comprise Goodwill Industries of Central North Carolina and the Little Black Dress at 2105 W. Cornwallis Drive in Greensboro will be accepting donations of gently used formal dresses that will then be sold for $25.

Their goal: collect 300 formal dresses for the prom.

They collected 170 dresses last year. But they expect the demand will be higher this year because of the recession.

“It’s something every high school girl is going to remember,” said Tammy Friedeck, marketing specialist at Goodwill. “Nobody should miss out because of not having the means to buy a fancy dress.”

Starting Friday, the donated dresses will be on sale for $25 or less at the Goodwill stores at 3921 Battleground Ave. in Greensboro or 5301 Samet Drive in High Point.

Other groups are also helping make prom dresses available for struggling families.

Nonprofit Camille’s Magic Closet in Greensboro is once again collecting new and slightly used formal dresses and accessories to provide them free of charge to Guilford County’s high school students.

Call 373-2733 or 373-2740 for more information.

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Get a tax preparation discount while helping a shoe charity.

Each time a customer redeems a $20 Liberty Tax Services coupon, the company donates that amount to Soles4Shoes.

Soles4Shoes collects gently worn shoes and gives them to those in need including natural disaster victims or people living in extreme poverty.
To receive a $20 printable coupon, send an e-mail to Libtax@giveshoes.org.

More information about the fundraising drive at soles4souls.org.

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Consumer Reports’ ShopSmart magazine offers 16 tips for nabbing the best shopping deals on the Web while avoiding rip-offs.

Highlights:

* Start with price-comparison sites including PriceGrabber.com, Shopping.com and Google.com/products.

* Go to the Better Business Bureau’s Web site at bbb.org if you’re not familiar with the retailer’s home page. Click “USA site,” “Check out a business or charity,” and then “Phone, URL, Email” for a Web site’s grade.

Details at my blog, Bargain Blog.

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Become Web savvy! Check out more deals and retail news at the Bargain Blog at news-record.com.

You can also subscribe to the Bargain Bytes e-newsletter at news-record.com/bargains.

The free newsletter will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.

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Do you have a retail news or shopping tips for Savvy Shopper? Contact Mike Fuchs at 373-3465 or michael.fuchs@news-record.com