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Thief Steals Donated Dresses Meant for Eighth Grade Graduation, Dance

A teacher collected various formal dresses to donate to her eighth grade students before they were taken

Kate Bucci, a teacher at Crown Preparatory Academy, a Title I school in South Los Angeles, painstakingly collected prom dresses for her students who she knew could not afford them.

She had the simplest of hopes: to put smiles on the faces of her students. She was then crushed and her students were left heartbroken after a thief swiped the evening attire.

"I went home to Rhode Island, packed up all my old prom dresses, homecoming dresses, semi-formal dresses, got some donations from some neighbors, nail polish, handbags, you name it," Bucci tells NBC4 News. "They had everything we needed."

When Bucci left her hometown of Rhode Island, the box of donated items was shipped to her. She rushed home and found that a thief had gotten to it first. It was stolen from her doorstep before she could get home from school. 

"When I heard that someone stole it - I felt like, 'How could someone have the heart to steal something from someone else?'" Bucci asked out loud.

The teacher added, "For some of (the students) there is no other solution. They don't have a way to afford another dress. A lot of them are first-generation graduates. How upsetting is that."

With the teacher unable to materialize a new batch of clothes, there are about 70 girls that need dresses for their upcoming graduation day. So, Bucci decided to set up a GoFundMe account hoping that anyone who is able will step up and provide a helping hand.

If you would like to donate to a GoFundMe account to replace the stolen dresses, you may do so here. Note that GoFundMe deducts 2.9 percent of all funds raised, plus 30 cents per donation, in the form of payment processing charges.

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