Grace Community Church in Wesley Chapel is hosting a “Night to Shine,” an event aimed at giving people with special needs a prom of their own.
Churches around the world will be hosting the event simultaneously on Feb. 10, 2023, according to a news release from Jeff Olsen, pastor of Grace Community.
The event will be held at Cypress Creek Middle School, 8845 Old Pasco Road, Wesley Chapel, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
This is the first time the Wesley Chapel church has joined the worldwide event sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. Organizers at Grace Community are encouraging those wishing to attend to register early, before the event reaches capacity.
“Every guest of ‘Night to Shine’ enters this complimentary event on a red carpet, complete with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi,” according to Olsen’s release.
“Once inside, guests receive the royal treatment including corsages and boutonnieres, a catered dinner, karaoke, prom favors, a dance floor… all leading up to the moment when each guest is crowned king or queen of the prom,” the release says.
“Grace Community Church is excited to be a part of this movement that God is using as a catalyst to change how cultures embrace people with disabilities and to rally the church to honor their local community of people with special needs, ensuring they know that they are valued and loved,” the church’s news release adds.
Night to Shine launched in 2015 with 44 host churches and 15,000 volunteers honoring more than 7,000 kings and queens of the prom, according to the release.
In February 2020, 721 host churches and 215,000 volunteers came together to celebrate 110,000 honored guests with special needs.
“Over the past two years, Night to Shine innovated and endured through the pandemic with the first-ever virtual Night to Shine, celebrating thousands of honored guests through unique adaptations, including a complete virtual video experience and socially distanced Shine Thru drive-thru events,” according to the release.
Tebow weighed in on the upcoming event, in the release.
“I’m so excited Night to Shine 2023 will be back in-person! All around the world, individuals with special needs are going to be celebrated like they should be,” he said. “We’ve been able to adapt over the last couple years but we can’t wait to be back together in person to cheer for every guest as they walk the red carpet, dance the night away with their friends, crown them as a king or queen of the prom and most importantly, tell every single one of them that their life has purpose and they are loved by us and the God of this universe.”
Lexus of Wesley Chapel is the Title Sponsor for the inaugural Night to Shine event in Wesley Chapel.
For additional information on the Night to Shine at Grace Community Church, visit NightToShineWesleyChapel.com.
For more information on the worldwide event, visit TimTebowFoundation.org/night-to-shine.
Published December 14, 2022
