ROCKINGHAM — Approximately 100,000 guests and 200,000 volunteers gathered at 655 churches around the globe Friday evening for the fifth annual “Night to Shine” — a prom night sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation.
At First Baptist Church in Laurinburg, volunteers rolled out the red carpet for 100 attendees to have a night to remember.
Vivian Williams, program manager for Richmond Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) with Monarch, said this was their first time participating in the prom and the long night for chaperones was worth the smiles of their 20 special needs participants — three from Anson County and the rest from Richmond County.
“Night to Shine” is a one night event where churches around the world celebrate the uniqueness of each individual guest by providing an unforgettable night where they’re welcomed, valued and loved, according to the Tim Tebow Foundation website.
“It’s about people with special needs,” said Founder Tim Tebow to Good Morning America in 2016. “It’s about giving them a voice, it’s about celebrating them, it’s about loving them and letting them know that their lives matter and that they are special, and giving them the time of their life.”
“It was off the chain,” Williams said Monday. “And those in attendance were treated like kings and queens. There was nothing that went lacking.”
The Tim Tebow Foundation began in 2010 with a mission to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need, according to the website. The foundation does a lot of outreach projects, including encouraginng children with a life threatening illness though a W15H, helping a family adopt an international child with special needs, crowning kings and queens of the prom and many other projects.
Williams said before they headed for the limo, the ladies were escorted to a room for last minute hair and makeup touches, and the gentlemen were given a special shoe shine. When they pulled up to the church in a limo, a red carpet was laid out with paparazzi on either side. She said a greeter at the door would announce the guests as they walked through.
“It was priceless to see their faces light up,” she said. “This was something they would never forget, I’m sure.”
Williams said there were candy tables set up, a professional photographer and a disc jockey playing songs, inlcuding “The Wobble” and the “Cha Cha Slide.” There was also a room set up for chaperones to sit and oberserve the dance from a TV screen and eat dinner.
Guests were also assigned a buddy to hang out with during the prom and dance with, eat together and socialize.
“A few of the guys felt like they were on an actual date,” said Williams. “It definitely gave them the opportunity to apply social skills that they learn in the PSR that they attend. They were able to experience a prom and for many of them, they might not be able to do this. So it was a new experience for them.”
During the prom, all guests were crowned the kings and queens and were given tiaras and crowns.
Williams thanks the community for the donations including prom dresses, suits, shirts and other items to make the night a success and to make sure “everyone had the proper thing to wear.”
Williams said the community support also showed their guests that they have outside support and that they are not alone.
“They found out people are in this community and that they want them to succeed and they care about them,” she said. “They aren’t in this race alone and they want them to have fun, and that’s important.”
Williams was unsure about permissions to use photographs of the participants, so she did not provide photos for this story.