Local mothers host Mom Prom for charity

BY GENNA NORDLING

To a high school student, a senior center does not seem like the ideal location for prom. But for CCHS parent Kelly Kern and the Cooper City “Mom Prom” board, it was the perfect place to have a party for a purpose.

On Saturday, April 28, mothers from Cooper City, Davie and Pembroke Pines gathered at the Southwest Focal Point Community Center to hang out with their friends, drink wine and support the Jessica June Children’s Cancer Foundation. At the event, the attendees could also dance and enter a raffle for prizes that the board had picked out.

To get the word out, Kern and the rest of the board (Andria Gross, Becky Taft, Emily Driggers, Joanne Chronis, Freda Merriman and Anne Lerner) created a Facebook group to invite their friends and encouraged them to ask others to purchase tickets for the event.

“The tickets [for Mom Prom] were 45 dollars, and we had about twenty raffle prizes that are about 50 dollars and one grand prize of 100 dollars,” event planner Kelly Kern said.

“The tickets [for Mom Prom] were 45 dollars, and we had about twenty raffle prizes that are about 50 dollars and one grand prize of 100 dollars,” event planner Kelly Kern said. “So about a fourth of the people are going to walk away with more than what their ticket price was in value.”

The Facebook group also allowed for attendees to make music recommendations for the DJ, ask for opinions on which dress they should wear and inquire about event specifics such as what type of food will be served and if they should bring their own glass for wine. Attendees could even discover more about the charity the event would benefit through the Facebook page. Allowing the invitees to access this information persuaded many to come to the event.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to come, we all have such busy schedules arranging things around our kids,” Mom Prom guest Tiffany Mosca said. “But I wanted to do it because it was for a good cause.”

The vision for Mom Prom came a long time before Kern and her board executed it. The first Mom Prom took place in Canton, Michigan in 2006. Kern first found out about Mom Prom when it took place in her hometown, Marietta, Ohio. For the past five years, the Marietta Mom Prom raised thousands of dollars for a local children’s cancer foundation. This year, on April 27, the Mom Prom in Kern’s hometown raised about 47,000 for their charity. Kern and the Mom Prom board hoped to raise 1,000 dollars.

“We are just starting out and this is their sixth year so they’ve kind of built a name for themselves and that’s what we are hoping to get to,” Kern said.

This year, on April 27, the Mom Prom in Kern’s hometown raised about 47,000 for their charity. Kern and the Mom Prom board hoped to raise 1,000 dollars.

After Kern moved to Florida, she missed the Mom Prom event back in her hometown, but her new friends were able to help make her dream into a reality.

“A few years ago when we first met Kelly she wanted us all to fly up to Ohio and go to Mom Prom, and we all said we weren’t going to go all the way to Ohio,” board member Anne Lerner said. “ Even if we wanted to go we couldn’t because it sold out in five minutes. Instead, we decided that we need to make her dream come true and start it here.”

After many years, the Mom Prom has finally become a reality and more, a success. The first ever Mom Prom in Broward County raised about 1,500 dollars and the moms have already started to plan a bigger and better dance for next year.

Photo by Genna Nordling