Strangers Pitch in After Prom Dresses Stolen From Massachusetts Charity

The founder of a Massachusetts charity that gives prom dresses to girls who can't afford them says roughly 15 of them were stolen last week, but strangers have been pitching in to replace them.

Tammi's Closet founder Betty Vitale tells The Daily News of Newburyport that someone entered the church where the Amesbury charity is located and stole the dresses last Wednesday or Thursday. She discovered the theft Friday.

Vitale founded the charity in 2014 as a way to remember her 19-year-old daughter, Tammi, who was killed in a car crash in 1996.

Vitale says word spread via social media and word of mouth, and people have been stopping by the store to donate dresses. She says she has more dresses coming in than were stolen.

Police are investigating.