By Crystal Conway
From limo rides to shoe shines to photoshoots and dancing, last weekend 190 area residents of all ages with disabilities had a “night to shine” as kings and queens.
Night to Shine is a prom night event hosted specifically for individuals with special needs. It is an event that is funded by the Tim Tebow Foundation and hosted by various churches in over 500 locations just in the United States. The event began in Ruston after someone mentioned it to Tara Smith, mom to a daughter with autism. With the send of an email, First Baptist Church became the first to host Night to Shine in Ruston in 2017.
It has been held in Louisiana Tech University’s Student Center every year since, aside from 2021 and 2022.
“The purpose of the event is to celebrate the individuals with special needs,” Smith, the event coordinator, said, “and to share God’s love with them the Friday before Valentine’s Day.”
However, it is not easy to put on an event like this for nearly 200 guests all alone. Smith worked alongside Casey Whipple of MedCamps to find a team of volunteers ready to serve and fulfill this purpose. After emailing multiple people and sharing about the event, more than 400 people decided to volunteer to help with food, hair and makeup, shoeshines, limo rides, or to be a buddy or help with the respite and sensory rooms.
“We could not do this without volunteers,” Smith said. “The volunteers are blessed just as much as the guests are.”
Morgan Shaw, a student at Louisiana Tech, decided to volunteer as a buddy after she heard about the event through Awaken, the college Wednesday night service at First Baptist. She decided to serve because it would be a good opportunity to connect with another through sign language. Through her experience, she not only had the privilege of practicing sign language with her buddy who was deaf, but she also had the privilege of getting to see her buddy light up when surrounded by individuals that she knew and loved. While there were many challenges when communicating, Shaw said that she would not have wanted it any other way.
“Getting to see her come out of her shell and not care about what other people think when on the dance floor allowed me to feel more comfortable and do the same in life,” Shaw said.
Kelly Quarles, mom to Kerrigan, 18, with down syndrome, shared her experience with Night to Shine.
“This is Kerrigan’s second year at Night to Shine, and it is an event she has been looking forward to all year,” Quarles said. “I was hesitant to leave her the first time, but now I have no hesitation knowing who all is taking care of her and how the night is set up.”
The night was set up in a way to make the guests feel safe and loved. As soon as the guests arrived to the event, they walked down a red carpet as they were welcomed by cheerleaders and teams from various schools along with a few others.
“My absolute favorite part if when they walk down the red carpet,” Smith said. “They smile from ear to ear and look like they have a great time.”
After the red carpet magic, they were then escorted by their buddy to different stations for hair and makeup, shoe shining, dinner, karaoke, limo rides, and finally… dancing. The night ended once every guest was crowned as a king or queen.
“It is an event Kerrigan is going to talk about forever,” Quarles said. “It made her so happy.”
