It Takes a Village held its fourth FREE Prom Dress Giveaway at Studio C. (JACQUELINE MERRIAM)

It Takes a Village held its fourth FREE Prom Dress Giveaway on March 19. But that doesn’t come close to describing the atmosphere that president Bernice Gordon-Young and her village people provided for the hundreds of high school students who came down to Studio C at Kellar Station.

Not only were there more than 500 dresses — 75 percent of which were never worn and still had the tags on them — there were hundreds of pairs of shoes supplied by Shoe Heaven, Mary Kay makeup and jewelry provided by Paparrazzi.

Plus there was the personal touch of making the fitness center feel like a bona fide boutique. ITAV volunteers, with some help from Studio C staff and athletes in the morning class, set up retail racks supplied by Jane’s Sweet Addictions, hung the dresses and set up the tables. Rent-A-Center furnished couches so students could sit and wait for the fitting areas and there was a stage to model the styles. Mello music and live mannequins made for the most ideal atmosphere.

Ella Ashby led a team of fashionistas who helped the girls pick out the perfect dress and pair it with the appropriate accessories. Whenever someone found a match, they’d exclaim for all to hear, “She said ‘Yes’ to the dress!” and everybody would let out a cheer.

“If you could see the looks on the girls’ faces when they come in and see all this,” Gordon-Young marveled. “This is an example of teamwork making the dream work.”