On February 7, 2025, Hope Community Church in Apex will host Night to Shine for the ninth year. This annual, worldwide celebration was created by the Tim Tebow Foundation to celebrate people with special needs. It is a massive undertaking that succeeds because of the coordinated and passionate efforts of the local community. Leading that community charge is the church’s family ministry director, Jessica Benninghoff.
Benninghoff pointed out that although they cherish the opportunity to host Night to Shine, this special event is not about their church. Rather, it’s a night to celebrate people with special needs, and the family, friends and community that love and support them.
“It takes our community coming together — our broader community. We have over 500 volunteers that serve the event. We get donations for food for the parent and caregiver room. Food for our guests. There are so many businesses that come together and support Night to Shine. It’s about the community coming together to show God’s love for people who have special needs. Truly demonstrating, by the way they are responding, that God makes no mistakes and that each person was created for his or her unique purpose,” she shared.
Night to Shine is a worldwide event that started as a way to celebrate the Tim Tebow Foundation’s 5th anniversary in 2014. Tim Tebow (ex-NFL star) wanted to create a prom night experience for people with special needs to show them God’s love, remind them they are made in God’s image, and give them a night of value and significance. The first Night to Shine was held in three countries and served 7,000 guests. The event has grown every year since with more than 700 churches participating and more than 100,000 people celebrated annually. Night to Shine has become a global movement that has changed the culture in countries that have traditionally minimized people with special needs. Night to Shine features a red carpet entrance, limousine rides, dancing, karaoke, gifts, a catered dinner, a crowning ceremony, and more. Considering Night to Shine is hosted by churches around the world on the same night, that’s a lot of positive energy moving in the same direction.
“This creates a sustained movement through social media and then through the regular media where you see this celebration of people with special needs around the world. That is pretty amazing,” Benninghoff said.
It’s no surprise that there are a lot of volunteer needs at Night to Shine. In fact, volunteers are encouraged to sign up pretty early as spots fill up pretty quickly. Benninghoff said they expect about 250 guests and noted that they have had as many as 350 guests in the past. Organizers are consciously scaling back this year to make it easier to execute optimally across all phases.
Besides the previously listed slate of entertainment for guests, Night to Shine also makes sure to create space for parents and caregivers. In this way, those who are sometimes providing care 24/7 have the opportunity to enjoy some down time, relaxing, while they are treated to a nice dinner and given a chance to make connections with other parents or caregivers and engage in fun activities.
Shelley Darden is an Apex resident whose son, Riley, has been attending Night to Shine at Hope Community Church since 2018. Riley is 24 and has autism.
“Night to Shine gives him a chance to get dressed up, go to prom and dance with his peers. I have been so pleased and comfortable with the qualified one-on-one companion Hope selects to shadow Riley on his special night. As parents, it gives us as caregivers a night off with a wonderful meal provided, a chance to meet other parents, and an opportunity to win door prizes and relax for an evening out. Hope Community Church treats each attendee like a king or queen which shows love, compassion and their capacity for inclusion of the special needs population,” Darden said.
Benninghoff shared that over the nine years of hosting this event, they have seen a few engagements happen out on the dance floor, have seen many returning guests, watched parents connect with other parents and have seen buddies (volunteers who escort guests) who were paired with a guest return together year after year. She detailed how organizers close out the celebration by saving the best for last.
“At the end of the night, we bring all of the guests back into the auditorium and we invite their parents back. We play a special video message from Tim Tebow (which they love) and then we announce every guest by name on a microphone. They are each given a crown or tiara and crowned king or queen of the prom. Does it take extra time to recognize every guest? It does. But everybody gets a moment,” she said.
For more information, visit Gethope.net/Nighttoshine. Registration will be live on November 25, 2024. You do not have to attend the church to register a guest or volunteer for the event. The age to attend as a guest is 14 or older. Volunteers must be 13 or older. Lastly, members of the business community who would like to partner with the church should send an email to NightToShineInfo@gethope.net.
