It’s prom season in Belize, a time for glitz, glamour, and unforgettable memories. But for some young girls, the dream of the perfect prom night can feel out of reach, with the cost of dresses, shoes, and makeup adding up quickly. That’s where Project Royalty steps in. For the past six years, this inspiring initiative has been helping girls across the country feel like true royalty, providing beautiful prom dresses at no cost to those who need them most. Today, we caught up with Project Royalty founder Isabella Zabaneh, who shared the heart behind the project and how it’s making a difference in the lives of young women, not just by dressing them up, but by making them feel seen, celebrated, and empowered. Here’s more on this uplifting story.
Isabella Zabaneh, Founder, Project Royalty
“In short, it’s basically like a shopping experience. You walk into the center where we host it every year, and we have racks and racks of dresses set up by size. So zero to two, all the way up to a size sixteen to eighteen is our largest size. And when the girl walks in, she’ll team up with one of the people on our glam squad and they’ll walk her through, what color are you looking for? Do you have a specific silhouette in mind? Something more simple, something more sparkly, just so we can get a feel of what she’s going for. We can’t always, all of the requests because we are based on donations. It’s not just getting a dress that’s handed down to you, when they walk out onto the red carpet and they see themselves in the mirror sometimes, like they can’t even they can’t even look at themselves. They don’t even, they can’t believe what they’re seeing ’cause they feel beautiful. Last night, I think one of my favorite reactions was a girl. She literally started to jump up and down. She was so excited and she couldn’t believe that she actually found a dress. She told me that she had walked in, hoping she would find something, but not too confident she would. And then she fell in love with this gown and she couldn’t believe that like she got to take it home.”