Naylynn and Monica Tanon will skip prom at Cypress Bay High School in Weston Fla. Instead, the sisters, ages 17 and 15, will attend a military ball for their junior ROTC program.

The girls’ parents, Olga Reyes and Luis Tanon of Davie, Fla., both lost their jobs this year. Olga is a teacher; Luis worked for a company that customizes private jets. For the first time, the family didn’t have money for two gowns.

The girls will wear designer dresses from Becca’s Closet, a Plantation-based charity that provides gowns to teens in need. Naylynn, 17, will wear a purple, full-length Vera Wang. Monica picked a red, strapless dress.

“It took such a big weight off our backs,” Reyes said of her daughters getting the donated dresses. “We were all stressed. We didn’t know how we were going to get the money. I couldn’t find it in my heart to not to let them go. I was ready to sell something.”

To save money, Naylynn will enroll at Broward Community College next year, postponing plans to attend the University of Florida.

For some students, there are no options.

Shermeika Collins, 16, of Belle Glade, Fla., knows prom is out of the question this year. Her mother is struggling to make her car payment and pay her phone bill. A dress or new pair of shoes falls short on the priority list.

“She just can’t help me this year,” said Collins.

For the past two years, Felisha Snyder, 16, of Hollywood, Fla., has participated in an international Kung Fu martial arts competition in Orlando, Fla. With rising costs, she won’t make the three-day trip this time.

“She would love to go, but this year I just can’t do it,” said Penny Snyder, a single mom of three who works in the auto-salvage business, hurt by the slump in car sales.

“The (martial arts) school has tried to do some fundraising,” the mother said. “The problem is, nobody has the money right now.”