A Sad Farewell

If you haven’t already heard, this is the last year that there will be a Prom Plus event. As in every other year (except during COVID), the event will follow prom and, as it has been for the last couple of decades, it will be held at the YMCA of the Foothills.

As you probably remember, I was involved with Prom Plus from 1999 when my oldest son was a senior at Crescenta Valley High School. In 2019, my youngest son – Danny – got married on the same weekend as Prom Plus and so Mary O’Keefe led the evening’s festivities since I couldn’t attend. (Thankfully Mary has also been involved with Prom Plus for decades.) In 2020 everything – prom and Prom Plus among them – was canceled and in 2021 there was an abbreviated Prom Plus held at the high school. I wasn’t involved with that one either; Mary directed those efforts.

Unfortunately what we’ve found is over the years there aren’t any parents who are willing to step up and be on the Prom Plus board … and the board should be populated with younger parents, not people my age – or Mary’s for that matter – who have grandkids.

The current Prom Plus president – Megan Johnson – has a son in middle school. She has worked hard in recruiting parents onto the board … but the interest just isn’t there.   Consequently, as it currently stands this will be the last year that Prom Plus will be held.

It’s a sad situation but unfortunately not an uncommon one. Many non-profits are suffering a lack of involvement from younger parents. Former CVHS principal Linda Evans and I were talking about whether the pandemic had anything to do with the reluctance of people joining an established organization or if the pandemic was just an excuse not to become involved in one – whatever the reason, many non-profits are suffering fates similar to Prom Plus.

Prom Plus Club, the youth arm of Prom Plus, will hopefully continue but it, too, is facing its own challenges. While there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of students wanting to be involved with volunteer work there is a shortage of parents willing to help with driving, overseeing the kids at their miscellaneous volunteer jobs and taking part in the monthly meetings during lunch period at the high school. Hopefully it won’t also go down the drain.

Prom Plus is having a fundraiser on Saturday night, April 20. It’s a bingo night at the Verdugo Hills Memorial Hall/American Legion. The funds raised will be earmarked for the final Prom Plus event. Those funds are needed, too; hosting Prom Plus costs about $25,000 and I know organizers want to make sure this one is truly one to remember.