Pretty in Pink gives free dresses

MOBILE, Ala. - It looked like the sale of the century at Colonel Mall Bel Air Saturday. Hundreds of high school girls were lined up around the mall. They were all looking for the same thing, a prom dress.

Leslie Lerner helped organize the Pretty in Pink Boutique. The turn out was even bigger than she expected.

"I got here at 8:15 this morning, and the line was already around the building. I was like oh my God what are we going to do?" Lerner said.

Dominque Mitchell as seen prom dresses for 130 to 200 dollars. But all the dresses in the shop are the same price, absolutely free.

"To get a free dress, you can't beat that." Dominque said.

The teenager was in line around 9 am, an hour before the mall opened. By noon she was heading home.

"I felt good, because it didn't take me too long to look. They're very organized." she said.

They may look like racks of pretty dresses, but the dresses represent the dreams of a lot of young girls. Dreams that might not happen without the Pretty in Pink program.

Lerner said many in the line have stories relating to the poor economy.

""Everyone has tightened their belts economically, and we just can't go out and spend 150 to 200 on a dress to be worn one time, when we don't know what the future holds."

All the girls needed to get a dress was a high school ID, or proof of enrollment.

"Some said how do you know they deserve a prom dress? I think on someone stands in line, and they show their ID, and they ask for a free dress, they deserve a free desk."

The Pretty in Pink Boutique handed out nearly 300 dresses Saturday.