The Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine prom experience came to Milledgeville for the second year in a row Friday. More than 100 guests were paired with buddies throughout the night as they enjoyed dinner, karaoke, and of course a fun time spent on the dance floor. 

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Prom night may still be a few weeks away for high schools, but that did not stop 117 people from being crowned kings and queens Friday night.

Through a massive collaborative community effort the Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine, a prom night experience for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities was held at Northridge Christian Church for a second consecutive year. Even though the flu cut into the number of volunteers who signed up there were still more than 500 people that gave their time to help make the evening a huge success once again.

“It’s wonderful to help facilitate an event in which the community and individuals with intellectual disabilities get to come together for a common cause like the Night to Shine,” said Barbara Coleman, executive director of the Baldwin Life Enrichment Center. “They’re able to have their night to shine. They’re in the limelight. The students and others who were buddies with them got to spend quality time with them and realize that we’re all more alike than different. We all want our own prime, our own time to be in the limelight, our own time to shine, and to feel like a king or a queen. That’s something everybody can identify with.”

Guests arrived at the church turned party venue Friday evening and checked in before meeting their buddies, many of which are Georgia College students, that stuck with them throughout the entire night. Shortly after arrival is where the real fun began because guests, already dressed in their finest, put the finishing touches on their looks with a trip to the hair and makeup or shoe shine chair. Night to Shine actually gives prom-goers the chance to arrive twice because they then took a short trip in a limousine to be dropped off at the main entrance where they suddenly became stars of a red carpet show. Volunteers welcomed them through the door snapping pictures and cheering them along the red carpet. Guests also had formal pictures taken by professional photographers donating their time for the special event. After that is when the real party broke out complete with a DJ and a dance floor, a fun photo booth guest starring Disney characters and superheroes, and a karaoke room, which was a real hit, according to Northridge Connections Pastor Amy Raburn. 

“I was telling my husband that night after we finally got home that it would be impossible for anybody to be there and not smile once,” said Raburn.

The Milledgeville Jaycees oversaw the character-filled fun photo booth and also gave out a $500 scholarship to Camp Dream, a camp for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities started by the Georgia Jaycettes in the ‘70s. The camp lasts four days during the summer and provides one counselor to every camper.

“Our main focus is to give back to the community and also to those in need,” said Allison Wilkinson, treasurer of the Milledgeville Jaycees and Night to Shine planning committee member. “This is just a no-brainer for us. It’s something that gives us the opportunity to be involved with people in our community and to show them that we care.”

At the end of the night nearly everyone, volunteer or guest, involved with the event moved into the church worship center turned dance floor for the special crowning moment. 

“It was beautiful,” Raburn said. “The buddies that had been with them all night put the crowns and tiaras on their heads to let them know that we love them and God loves them. Sometimes people with special needs may have heard things about themselves that were untrue and made them feel like they were unworthy or unloved. The cool thing about the night was that we could kind of erase all that and hopefully tell them new stories like they are worthy of love and that they are beautiful and handsome and loved by their heavenly father.”

Milledgeville was only one of more than 540 locations holding a Night to Shine event Friday, according to the Tim Tebow Foundation website. Special prom nights were held across all 50 states as well as in 16 countries for approximately 90,000 honored guests with the help of 175,000 volunteers around the world. Raburn said Northridge is planning to reapply to the Tim Tebow Foundation in order to hold a third Night to Shine event to Milledgeville in 2019.