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Acts4Ash Dress Drive honors life of teen killed in car crash

The drive has been put on for four years, and continues to get bigger each year

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – A yearly dress drive is making it easy for high school girls to pick out their prom dresses at a cheap price.

Acts4Ash Dress Drive started back in 2019. The event was created in memory of Ashlynn Poole after she was killed in a car crash back in 2018.

Ashlynn’s mom, Melissa, says her daughter always loved putting on a dress. The drive allows girls to pick out one or even two dresses and all they ask is for a $20 donation that goes towards the Ashlynn N. Poole Memorial Scholarship fund.

“The idea was that girls could come and shop for a dress that they normally wouldn’t be able to afford and we just ask for a donation of 20 dollars for each dress they take,” Poole said.

Poole misses her daughter every day. The dress drive keeps both the community and her going.

“This event brings a lot of comfort, and it brings a lot of peace knowing that people want to support our cause to remember her and keep her memory alive,” Poole said.

Cadence Spaulding is a senior at Christiansburg High School. She says this is the second year in a row she’s come to the event.

“I just think this is like a wonderful event because all that money goes towards her scholarship that she has,” Spaulding.

Hundreds of dresses are donated throughout the year for the event. Poole even rents out a storage space to keep the extras leftover since they started piling up in her house.

The event itself has gotten bigger and bigger each year. While it started at 10 a.m. this year, people began lining up at 9 a.m. due to its first-come first-serve basis.


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About the Author
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Connor Dietrich joined the 10 News team in June 2022. Originally from Castle Rock, Colorado, he's ready to step away from the Rockies and step into the Blue Ridge scenery.