With a red carpet spread out before them, guests will arrive at Mount Pleasant Christian Church feted like kings and queens.
Supporters will be waiting on them to cheer and clap as soon as they step out of their vehicles. Photo flashes will sparkle on either side of the walkway, leading to a night that includes dancing, games and other fun.
And by the end of the night, each guest — all a part of the local special needs community — will get their own crown.
“It’s just a way to honor them and make them feel like royalty,” said Heidi Wright, serve coordinator at Mount Pleasant Christian Church and chair of the event. “We want to show the love of God to the special needs community here, and give them the opportunity to have a night where they shine.”
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On Friday night, more than 200 special guests will come to the Center Grove area church for Night to Shine, a prom night experience designed for people with special needs and their families. Guests will dance to pop music, sing karaoke and sit down to a catered dinner.
The aim is to provide an evening of fun and festivity that many with special needs may never get to experience, Wright said.
“For us, there’s the beauty in this mission of having an event that provides a chance for the special needs community to do something extravagant, and be loved on in an extravagant way,” she said. “Many of these folks never would have had this opportunity before.”
For Jake Johnson, the Night to Shine will be a perfect opportunity to show off his latest moves on the dance floor.
The 16-year-old Center Grove area resident loves to dance, said Karla Johnson, his mother. She and Jake’s father, Rob Johnson, have been getting ready for the past weeks by lining up a formal outfit — dress shirt, bow tie, stylish shoes — that also lends itself to moving to the beat.
“Because he likes to dance, we’ve been trying to find dance clothing that lets him do that. We’re not doing a suit, but we want him to be able to have fun,” Karla Johnson said.
Jake has Down syndrome, and without Night to Shine, he likely wouldn’t have another opportunity to do that. The Johnsons are members at Mount Pleasant Christian Church, and with the night’s focus on the special needs community, they feel entirely comfortable having Jake take part.
“It’s an alternative to a typical prom, where you might have some concerns about sending a special needs child to,” Karla Johnson said. “This is all about celebrating people who really don’t get to enjoy a night where it’s all about them, in a safe way.”
In recent weeks, organizers and volunteers have been working to make the experience as memorable as possible for families such as the Johnsons.
People were invited to come to the church for “shopping sessions,” where they could come pick out tuxedos or dresses, shoes and jewelry for the dance. The day of the event, guests can get their hair, makeup and nails professionally done.
Each guest is paired with a volunteer buddy for the evening, who sits with them during dinner, dances with them and helps ensure they’re involved and engaged with the different activities during the evening.
In the culminating event of the night, Pastor Chris Philbeck will share a message with the crowd and show a video of Tim Tebow, the former University of Florida football star and Heisman Trophy winner, thanking everyone for coming.
“They get to really maximize the elements that occur throughout the evening,” Wright said. “We’re not just showing love on the guests, but their families, which is a huge element for the evening.”
Night to Shine was created by the Tim Tebow Foundation, a nonprofit group that reaches out to some of society’s most vulnerable people. Aid programs include helping support orphans throughout the world, working with children with life-threatening illnesses and helping organize community service efforts.
For the past three years, the foundation also has organized the special Night to Shine events. This year, 375 host churches from around the world will host the dances, serving more than 75,000 guests in total.
“This year is extra special because we are seeing more and more churches coming together, across denominational lines, to celebrate these incredible people and share the same message of God’s love and the value and worth of each honored guest,” said Erik Dellenback, executive director of the Tim Tebow Foundation.
Mount Pleasant Christian Church, partnering with nearby Bluff Creek Christian Church, will host Night to Shine for the second straight year. Philbeck learned about the event after the foundation founded it, and was determined to bring it to the church.
“It really lines up in the mission of the church,” Wright said. “We’re very invested in the love of Christ to our community, our neighbors, and this lines up with that mission. We had the resources to do it, so we did.”
Last year, more than 230 people came to Mount Pleasant’s Community Life Center, a multi-use gathering place with room for a dining area, dance floor and rooms for the different activities. They enjoyed karaoke, game rooms set up throughout the center and a picture booth to take goofy photos.
Special “cool down” rooms will be set up for guests who suffer from sensory sensitivity.
Though the Night to Shine is billed as a prom, it’s open to anyone from age 14 and up. In 2015, guests came to the dance ranging from teenagers to a 70-year-old.
Mount Pleasant Christian Church spends six months planning the event. Close to 700 people volunteer to pull the night together, from lining up entertainment to setting up and decorating, to cleaning up afterwards. Many are from Mount Pleasant, but people from throughout the central Indiana community offer their help as well.
People want to get involved, just to see the joy that radiates throughout the entire event, Wright said. To experience the happiness that the guests show throughout the night is indescribable.
“They have the opportunity to dance, to dress up, and they recognize that they are the center of attention in a really good way that means a lot to them,” Wright said. “It’s heart-warming and thrilling to invest this energy into the event. You walk away feeling like something really good and right and special happened, and you got to be a part of it.”
