“You feel a lot like a fairy godmother,” Chris Spillane, a volunteer for Happyness Blooms, said.

Happyness Blooms is a locally based non-profit providing the Cinderella experience for young girls who may not otherwise have the opportunity to attend the prom due to financial constraints.

Over the last decade high school proms have become an increasingly expensive tradition and “high school milestone,” according to Lisa Puglia Gretchner, one of the founders for Happyness Blooms.

Between the perfect dress, with accompanying shoes and jewelry, tickets and transportation, the prom is no longer “a couple hundred bucks” for a couple. Rather, a prom can cost upwards of a couple of thousand, with the importance of the event for high school students growing just as much.

This organization provides a day where young women, who may be unable to purchase their own dress, can look through racks upon racks of donated gowns, trying on various styles and colors. Each girl can take home her favorite dress for free. During the event, girls also have the opportunity to find matching shoes and jewelry, also for free, while they get their hair and makeup done.

Happyness Blooms, started last year after Puglia Gretchner and a group of women volunteered for the Belle of the Ball, a similar, yet far larger event in Boston. Just as volunteers the group of friends felt privilege to make the young ladies’ day special.

“The girls just beamed from the special attention they got, to have these moments that are all about them. It really elevates their self-confidence, to feel beautiful,” Gretchner said.

When the women realized there was no similar organization providing the same opportunities for local girls, they stepped up to create it.

Gretchner said, “To think a girl may not go to prom because they can’t afford it, its heartbreaking, especially when we have the opportunity to help them, it’s heartbreaking.”

Last weekend, on Saturday, April 2, Happyness Blooms held their second annual event for students throughout Warwick and West Warwick at Norwood Baptist Church. It was open to all the local high schools as well as the Trudeau Center.

With more than 500 donated gowns the church was transformed into a high quality, free boutique for the day. All of the makeup artists, hairstylists and personal shoppers volunteer their time to make the day special for a young woman.

Spillane, who worked as a personal shopper helping girls find dresses in the styles and sizes they were looking for, said it is “incredible” to have a part in making girls have a positive experience as they end their high school careers.

Morgan Candon and Bethany Bonenfant, two Toll Gate seniors who attended the event together, said it was “really cool” to be able to “shop” through dresses.

Bonenfant said, “Prom is a day for girls to dress up and feel special.”

“Prom is the last time we will all be together, to celebrate our friends before we graduate and go our separate ways,” Candon said.

Erin Camerlin, a mother to one of the girls participating in the Happyness Blooms event, said it was a special moment for her to see her daughter, Mia, trying on dresses.

“It’s hard to see her growing up so fast. Today prom, tomorrow college,” she said.

Dresses are increasingly expensive, especially for a gown that may only be worn once, and Camerlin knew her daughter wouldn’t want to ask for the money for a brand new dress.

“My husband is a contractor so through the winter we only have one income,” Camerlin said. “She is such a good girl, she would never want to feel as if she was taking away from the family in any way, but she deserves to have a beautiful dress and the opportunity to experience prom.”

Puglia Gretchner said the hope is to continue expanding Happyness Blooms, opening to other high schools and more girls for their next annual event.

At the end of April the non-profit is hosting a benefit pasta dinner at the Cold Spring Community Center, 36 Beach St., North Kingstown.

The pasta dinner/game night will be Saturday, April 23 from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. with door prizes, a silent auction and raffles alongside the dinner. Tickets are $8 a person and $6 for students.

For more information on Happyness Blooms, to make a donation or purchase tickets to their upcoming pasta dinner visit their website at www.happynessblooms.com.