Operation School Bell helps students get prom dresses

Enrie Amezcua

Operation School Bell (OSB) has been serving Los Angeles Unified School District’s low-income and homeless students receive clothing for school and at least 50 teenage seniors find dresses for prom.

On March 7, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) seniors, Young Sun and Rya Ekberg-Wust, went to an event held at the Assistance League of Southern California in Hollywood to choose their prom dresses.

Sun didn’t expect that much from the event but when she chose her dress she fell in love with her sleek black evening gown.

From Studio City, Linda Levine helped gather all the dresses, jewelry, shoes, and more just so the the girls can have choices to choose from.

Ekberg-Wust’s dress is described as a polka-dot gown that she fell in love with after going through the crowded dressing room that had been set up just for them.

PSA Counselor Rene Ahal and Counselor Martina Torres organized this event due to the fact that there are some things that they can’t afford and prom dresses are one of those things.

“Just meeting all the people there, they were so happy, like the workers they were all volunteers so it was just good to see them volunteering for people who don’t really have as much.” Sun said.

Also there to help was the fashion critic Steven Cojocaru, or “Cojo,” known for being the fashion editor on People’s Magazine.

“Cojo” helped make sure that all the seniors had a dress that they looked forward to wearing during their prom.

OSB is a volunteer-run service for the non-profit  organization Assistance League of Southern California who has provided social services to individuals with critical needs since 1919.

The girls’ clothes and supplies are bought by fundraising and are organized and chosen by the student.

Sun and Ekberg-Wust will join the rest of the seniors at the Midnight in Paris themed, on April 19 at Castaways in Burbank.