Giving others a Night to Shine
VERNON. Second annual event planned for 88 special-needs people Friday.
Vernon /
| 04 Feb 2025 | 05:22
Volunteers welcome a guest and her buddy walking the red carpet into the prom last year at St. Francis de Sales Church in Vernon. (Photos by Kathy Shwiff)
Guests are made up before the Night to Shine event last year at St. Francis de Sales Church in Vernon.
Volunteers welcome a guest and his buddy walking the red carpet into the prom.
Guests climb into a limousine for a ride during the Night to Shine last year.
Volunteers welcome a guest and her buddy walking the red carpet into the prom.
Nearly 200 volunteers will welcome 88 special-needs people to a prom Friday, Feb. 7 at St. Francis de Sales Church in Vernon.
This is the second year in a row that the church will host the event with dinner, dancing, a DJ and a great deal more.
It is one of 13 sites in New Jersey and more than 600 worldwide to host a Night to Shine, which is a project of the Tim Tebow Foundation.
The events are free to people age 14 and older who are living with disabilities.
Bruce Rebisz, one of the organizers of the Vernon event, stressed that it is a community event with guests and volunteers coming from throughout Sussex County and beyond.
“We’ve got tons of wonderful businesses that have helped us out with food and everything.”
Rebisz and his wife were volunteers at a Night to Shine event six or seven years ago. After it, she suggested that they organize one at their church.
The project was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, and it took about a year to apply and gain approval from the Tim Tebow Foundation, which requires hosts to follow its rules and provide information about staffing, funding and other aspects.
’Full prom experience’
The number of guests was limited to 75 last year in Vernon. The 88 spots this year were filled up in two days after registration opened, Rebisz said.
”What we do is we give them the full prom experience,” he said.
There will be a makeup room, shoeshine station, limo rides and a karaoke room. There also will be sensory, or quiet, room and a therapy dog available if someone is looking for a break from the noise of the prom.
”Most of them just like to get here and have a great time dancing and seeing each other. Some of them are friends from different groups,” Rebisz said.
Each guest is accompanied by a buddy throughout the event. At one point, each buddy will crown his or her guest as king or queen of the prom.
Parents of the guests have their own dinner and party in a separate room. New this year is a live simulcast of the prom so the parents can see what their children are doing.
The prom is expected to be an annual event in Vernon, Rebisz said. “Every year, we try to see what we can tweak a little bit and improve and hopefully every year becomes a little bit better.”