ORLANDO, Fla. — Prom dress shopping is a highlight in any high school senior girl’s life.
- Community helps Kayla Martinez go to her high school prom
- Martinez is on her own in the U.S., her family is stuck in Venezuela
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“I want it to be like wow, like bam,” said Kayla Martinez, as she walked through Bloomingdale’s at Mall at Millennia in Orlando.
It’s a great day for Martinez, but it’s not how she originally pictured it — her life changed recently.
Kayla and her family made a very tough decision. She is the only U.S. citizen in her family, and after living in Venezuela for years, her family encouraged her to move back to the U.S. for a better life.
The current turmoil in Venezuela is preventing her family from returning. The country will not approve their Visas to return to the U.S.
By herself in early 2018, she enrolled in high school, found a job, along a place to live. It was not until she got a bad toothache that her school and teachers figured out what was going on.
Cypress Creek High School and Orange County Public Schools stepped up to help her in a big way with college and school field trips.
“It feels like I am not alone anymore, it feels like I am supported now,” said Martinez. “You can just feel the love. Like in my school, everyone in the office, they all say hi to me, and they are asking how I am.”
On top of this, the community responded too.
“I don’t know her. She just popped out of nowhere like an angel,” said Martinez, talking about Karen Johnson and her two daughters.
Johnson told Kayla she would buy her a prom dress, which is how Kayla ended up at Bloomingdales.
“I feel as if this is kind of like it would feel like if I was with my mom,” Martinez said.
At the end of the shopping trip, Bloomingdale’s also offered to buy the dress, including accessories and even shoes. Mall at Millenia then added in gift cards to Victoria Secret and a makeover from MAC cosmetics.
“It’s just amazing how people have such big hearts, and they are willing to give so much to people that need it,” Martinez said.
Prom is this Saturday for Kayla. On top of all those donations, her teeth were fixed by a dental office that wanted to stay anonymous.