Murphy It was an enchanted evening on Feb. 13 at Murphy First Baptist Church for the first Night to Shine extravaganza. The night honored the many beautiful disabled folks in our communities, and the love shown for each one appeared unparalleled.
The Night to Shine event took a lot of planning that included about 115 volunteers and lots of set-up, in order to create an environment that welcomed and showed
love and kindness to 55 disabled individuals. Organizers of the event included Cory West,
associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Audrah West and Nicole Morrow.
The annual event was in large part funded by a grant for $6,500 from the Tim Tebow Foundation. The remaining several thousand dollars needed to put on the event was donated from the community. Participants for whom the event was planned had the opportunity to receive hair and makeup pampering, a shoe shine, jewelry and flowers prior to making their grand entrance into the party.
When dressed, prepped and ready each guest walked along a red carpet to the cheers of family, friends, volunteers, buddies and local paparazzi. The moments in time that captured the joy on the faces of those being honored, brought about emotion from the waiting audience.
Once inside the main room, the party started with socializing, hugging and laughter. During the event a Tim Tebow video was shown reminding each person how special and loved they are, reading a scripture from the Bible letting them know that each one was fearfully and wonderfully made.
The evening’s MC and music DJs were Rachelle Castellana and Zion Lewis.
After a bit of socializing, dinner began with volunteers serving each guest the evening meal. The tables were adorned with streamers, blue, silver, clear and white balloons along with other pretty items.
There was plenty of dancing and the dance floor filled up quickly as folks truly appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Karaoke was also part of the evening’s entertainment. Multi-colored glow sticks added lots of swirling colors to the room as participants moved them about with the high energy music.
At one point in the evening, male guests were presented with a crown, while the females received a sparkling tiara. One could see the excitement on their faces and feel their joy.
Folks were using the photo booth to create lasting memories with their friends.
Professional photographer Graciela Laurent donated her time and services to provide each guest with a framed photo as a memory of the evening’s festivities.
“This is a Tim Tebow Foundation Initiative for adults with disabilities. It’s to honor them and let them know that different is not wrong or bad. We honor them and let their light shine,” Audrah West said.
It appeared that the honored guests received the message.