Page 55 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2025

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net April 2025 | 55
Alyssa Wellman of Gulfport High School, first Primp My Prom recipient.
Ashley Medrano-Reyes of Gulfport High School Prom 2024.
“I’m always looking for things I can use my platform for,” she said. “My goal with this program is to eventually be able to give out scholarships through my Primp My Prom fund under the Bacot McCarty Foundation.”
Lauren Damond with Zi’lyn Jones from Gulfport High School, 2023 recipient.
Heaven Parkman from Bay High School Prom 2024.
“So I reached out to one of my clients who is a teacher in Gulfport,” Damond said. “I asked for help finding a kid who would benefit from having their hair and makeup done. Ideally, I wanted a kid that was underprivileged but doing really well in school. He said he would talk with a counselor. Soon after, I got an e-mail from the counselor and she said she loved the idea.”
With that life-changing email, Primp My Prom was created, a nonprofit program under the Bacot Foundation of South Mississippi that supplies dresses, shoes, hair, makeup, and accessories at absolutely no cost to young, deserving ladies. The participants even get prom night photographs, dinner, and transportation.
“I knew I wanted to make these kids feel just as equally beautiful, important, and seen as everyone at prom,” she said. “If being a kid these days isn’t hard enough, imagine never having name-brand clothes or shoes. Or anyone ever telling you they like your outfit. Or your hair looks good. Imagine people around you don’t think you have the things that make you cool and relevant.”
The program has grown tremendously in four short years. Damond helped one girl the first year with hair and makeup. This year, she and her sponsorship partners have already helped 12 deserving teens.
“Prom is a day that girls dream about,” she said. “And on the night that they should feel the most beautiful, they are reminded how different their life is from their peers just because of the family they were born into. I’m not letting that happen. So for one night, these girls are going to feel equal to their peers. They’re getting the entire experience gifted to them. Head-to-toe, dinner, pictures, and transportation, it’s all taken care of.”
Sponsorship partners include Fashion Factory, La Sauce Style, The Chimneys Restaurant, The IP Casino Resort Spa, Phoenicia Gourmet Restaurant, Tony’s Brick Oven Pizzeria, Lemon Tree Florist, Southern Flower Shop, Onyx Glam Natural Hair Care with Tierany Houston, Lacey Smith Makeup Artist, Louis Peterman Makeup Artist, Gabriel Photographer and Filmmaker, Bridal and Formal Boutique & House of Tux, and Hair + Tonic Salon.
And from a simple thought of “how can I make this world a little bit better,” Damond created Primp My Prom, bringing together community sponsors and giving deserving young ladies a glamorous chance to attend their event in style.