Over 350 individuals with special needs, their hair and make-up done and wearing suits and dresses, walked the red carpet Friday night at Westside Baptist Church as Night to Shine returned, giving them a night to remember.
The event, in partnership with the Tim Tebow Foundation, is a prom night for those over the age of 14 with special needs. What started in 2014 has now reached over 1,000 cities and 56 countries.
“It’s a way to celebrate people who often hear a lot of ‘nos' in life and are not celebrated on a daily basis,” said Sara Chauncy, the director of Night to Shine at Westside Baptist Church.
Since many guests didn’t have the opportunity to go to their own prom, she sees the night as a way to give them that experience. At the end of the night everyone is crowned either a king or a queen.
Guests are so excited for the night that they reach out early on about what they are wearing and how they plan to get their hair done.
“We start getting requests in June for them to sign up,” she said. “This is their favorite night of the year.
In 2024, the event had 230 guests attend. This year they had 358 and even had to turn people away because they reached capacity.
Every guest had the opportunity to ride in a limo, get their shoes shined, sing karaoke and have numerous photos taken.
Ashley Hopper has been attending Night to Shine for the last five years. Her favorite part of the night is dancing because she gets to listen to new music.
“My favorite part is about loving and kindness,” said Kiondre Brown. This was his third year coming, and he said that everyone deserves the opportunity to come.
Each guest is accompanied by a buddy. A buddy’s job is to spend the entire night with their paired guest and make sure they are having a good time.
“The thing I love most about being a buddy is gaining a new friend,” said Leah Burklew.
Each buddy gets to dance the night away with their new friend and enjoy the prom with them.
This year was Makenzie Daniel’s second year as a buddy. “I love the concept of making someone feel super special for a night.”
She has a family member who has Down syndrome, so she enjoys nights like this where so many people come together with the same heart and desire to give back.
The event has a volunteer force of close to 1,000 people. Some are assigned to serve food, run the themed rooms, help caregivers and do hair and makeup for guests.
“Even if you don’t get the opportunity to be a buddy, the night can still be fulfilling,” said Audrey Holley. Who served as a photographer for Night to Shine.
“My night in the photo booth was full of superheroes and princesses,” she said. “The smiles were priceless.”
While guests were dancing and singing the night away, their caregivers were across the street enjoying a caregiver retreat.
The caregiver retreat had a catered Hawaiian meal along with the chance for caregivers to get massages, enjoy a painting class and information about different resources in the community that support those with special needs.
For the caregivers, it’s nice to see that “they care about us and they do all this preparation tonight,” said Linda Hantley.
She said her son is always talking about prom night and dressed up last week because he was so excited.
“It’s a really big event for them,” Hantley said.
The night closed with everyone being crowned as king and queen and memories that will last a lifetime.