A Night to Shine: Temple Bible Church hosts special-needs prom on Feb. 13

By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos courtesy of TEMPLE BIBLE CHURCH

“It’s not about the red carpet or the crowns. It’s about someone realizing — maybe for the first time — that they’ve always had worth. Why? Because they’re made in the image of God,” said Tim Tebow, former NFL quarterback and founder of The Tim Tebow Foundation and Night to Shine.

Night to Shine is an unforgettable worldwide celebration event, centered on God’s love, which honors and values people with special needs. In 2015, a simple idea to celebrate the foundation’s fifth anniversary sparked what is now a worldwide movement celebrating more than 100,000 people with special needs annually. Night to Shine values, honors and supports honored guests and their families through a prom, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs held simultaneously around the world on the Friday before Valentine’s Day each year. Night to Shine has since become a catalyst for additional programming intentionally designed to create year-round impact and true life-change in communities.

For the last two years, Temple Bible Church has been a local host for Night to Shine, and they are busy gearing up for this year’s special night on Feb. 13.

“Before we became a host site, people from this area drove to Waco, to either volunteer or to bring their children as honored guests,” said Ashley Oliver, Children’s Ministry and Special Needs Ministry leader at Temple Bible Church. “The leadership team at Temple Bible Church wanted to be able to bring this event closer to make it easily accessible to those in Temple and the surrounding community.”

The highly anticipated annual event is a formal prom, complete with limousine rides, dancing, food, games and a lot of laughter. The red-carpet experience is a special part of the evening, as each of the 125 “kings” and “queens” individually makes his or her entrance to a cheering crowd, including family, friends and community members. Cheerleading squads from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Central Texas Christian School join in the fun, adding to the excitement.

Once inside, participants can choose from many activities, including a game room and a sensory room.

The kings and queens are each assigned a buddy for the momentous evening, which provides a new friend for each participant and allows their caregivers the opportunity for some respite time. While the kings and queens are enjoying the festivities and an unusual measure of freedom, parents or other caregivers are treated to a catered meal during “Night to Dine.” For caregivers, this is a precious time where they can relax, enjoy a meal, and visit with friends, old and new, who share a common bond with them.

While caregivers view the evening’s activities via livestream, the kings and queens enjoy the dance before watching a video from Tim Tebow and his wife, Demi-Leigh, which is broadcast to all the worldwide Night to Shine events. Each participant is then crowned as a king or queen.

“This is a time of pure joy,” Oliver said. “The kings and queens are jumping up and down, giving each other high fives — it’s like the world outside of this building doesn’t exist for two hours.”

Of course, it takes many volunteers to make this event happen. On the night of the event, Temple Bible Church serves 125 kings and queens and 250 caregivers.

About 350 volunteers from all over Central Texas make this event possible. The team is still in the planning stages for this year, but in years past they have had numerous UMHB students and faculty serve as volunteers. Miss UMHB girls help crown kings and queens, the Cru Spirit Band plays as the kings and queens exit the limousines and walk down the red carpet, and the UMHB Occupational Therapy department takes the lead on the Sensory Room.

Local organizations provide items for swag bags given to each honored guest. During the Night to Dine, representatives from local organizations are present for caregivers to learn about community resources. Folks from area churches volunteer their time and serve at Night to Shine in various ways. Everyone joins together, from the planning process to clean up, and their hearts are for making sure everyone in the special needs community is loved and supported. And the caring and love extend far beyond just Night to Shine.

“There are families that have moved to Bell County because of what our community has to offer their child/adult with disabilities. We are truly blessed to have an amazing, supportive, collaborative community that embraces people with disabilities,” said Susie Marek, who has served on the leadership team for both the Waco and Temple Night to Shine events for several years. “I am a parent of a 31-year-old son with autism. Through our journey of parenting a son with disabilities, we want him to know that God created him in His image, and that his life has purpose.”

“Night to Shine is so much fun. We have an absolute blast and each year I hear participants and volunteers say, ‘I can’t wait for next year,’” Oliver said. “If you have never experienced pure joy, then volunteer at Night to Shine. But remember that though Night to Shine is an important evening, there are many ways throughout the year that people can get involved. I recommend that people research all that Bell County has to offer to our special needs community.”

GET INVOLVED
Temple Night to Shine: https://templebiblechurch.org/ntsvolunteer/
Ashley Oliver: Email ashleyo@tbcweb.org
Tim Tebow Foundation: timtebowfoundation.org/