Shoppers were able to check off many gifts from their holiday list at the Annual Prom Plus Boutique on Saturday at St. Luke’s of the Mountains. Over 30 vendors with offerings from jelly to self-defense items filled the inside of the church’s Sadler Hall, courtyard and lawn. Music was provided by the Crescenta Valley High School jazz band, the CVHS Charismatics a’capella group and musicians from Rosemont Middle School.

The holiday boutique is one of the non-profit organization’s largest fundraisers of the year. Prom Plus was established over 20 years ago after a Crescenta Valley High School senior was shot and killed at an unsupervised after prom party. A grassroots effort fueled by parents and community members and supported by local businesses and the Glendale Unified School District created Prom Plus.

The Prom Plus supervised after prom party runs from midnight to 5 a.m. The event is located at the Crescenta Cañada YMCA, a longtime partner with Prom Plus, and offers CVHS seniors and their guests several games including a mechanical bull, rock climbing wall, zip line, laser tag, a full casino and much more.

The event costs the organization about $25,000 each year. Last year Prom Plus began offering scholarships for members of the Prom Plus Club, the youth arm of the organization. Prom Plus Club was founded about six years ago by two CVHS students as a way to raise awareness for Prom Plus and has become a strong community service club whose student members accumulate from 2700 to 3000 service hours a year. This year’s boutique raised approximately $2,000.

For information or to donate to Prom Plus, email info@promplus.org, visit www.promplus.org or call (818) 248-2740.

  Charly Shelton