February 9th is going to be a special night for lots of special people across the United States, in 11 foreign countries and right here in Horry County when in Conway becomes the first church in this area to participate in Night to Shine.
The night features a prom for people with special needs or disabilities 14- years old and up.
The prom, expected to draw as many as 100 guests, is the creation of the Tim Tebow Foundation that is partnering with The Rock to host the event. It will feature a DJ and a dance floor, karaoke, food, lots of crowns for kings and queens of the prom, beginning with a walk on a red carpet complete with paparazzi capturing the event.
“We want everyone to know that this is not a church event, but more so a community event, and if other churches want to get involved we’ll gladly have them there that night,” said Adrian Robertson, the mother of a teen with special needs and member of The Rock Church, who is coordinating the event with Leanna Cabbil, executive assistant to Josh Finklea, the church’s pastor.
Planning for the event began months ago and has blossomed into a huge evening with lots of help from Conway businesses and nonprofit organizations.
will provide a prom dress for any lady who doesn’t have one. Amanda Roof at will open her store January 19th and 26th from 3-6 p.m. to let prom-goers come in, see the dresses and try them on.
Those interested in trying on dresses will need to call Leanna Cabbil at (843) 246- 9956.
Boys who need formal wear can call Robertson at (843) 997-0034.
and the are gearing up to make lots of boutonnieres and corsages to give that special finishing touch to everyone’s evening attire.
There is a need for a few more dresses and tuxedos of all sizes, but the ladies say there is a special need for larger sizes. Clothes can be dropped off at the C3 Coffee Bar at 1701 Church St., near The Rock Church.
The donations need to be gently used, clean and pressed, if needed.
But this isn’t all that will be offered to the attendees. There will be hair styling and makeup for the ladies and shoe shining for both boys and girls.
If that’s not enough to make February 9th a night to remember, the Chick-fil-A cow, Princesses Cinderella and Belle will be there, and cartoonist Ed Wilson will be drawing caricatures of the prom-goers. The ladies are even hopeful that Tebow himself might show up in Conway saying he visits one prom each year.
Several clubs, including the Conway High School Interact Club, will be on the dance floor encouraging everyone to boogie down, and every special guest will get the chance to select one piece of jewelry.
Here’s the best part-everything is free.
Guests will be paired with a buddy, who will meet them at the door and watch over them throughout the night. There will also be a medical staff onsite to take care of any unforeseen problems. Safety has also been considered. All “buddies” must undergo background checks.
After walking the red carpet, attendees will head into the church where their buddies will be waiting to collect all necessary information from their caregivers.
Each person will have a number that coincides with his or her buddy.
When parents return to collect their prom-goers at the end of the evening they’ll show their numbers so there won’t be any confusion about which parents belong with which prom-goers.
At this point, the planners are expecting to have 300 volunteers onsite to make sure the night is perfect.
Robertson and Cabbil say they’ve gotten lots of help from the Tim Tebow Foundation to plan every detail of the event.
“We’re going off of their plans to make it bigger and beautiful,” Cabbil said.
The Rock also received an $8,500 grant from the Foundation to help with many of the expenses.
Night to Shine was held in 375 churches this past year and, according to the Foundation’s website, will be in 500 churches touching all 50 states this year.
There will be 14 other special nights in South Carolina. The Foundation is expecting to entertain 90,000 guests with the help of 175,000 volunteers this year.
All volunteers will go through some general training to be ready for the big dance. Those who signed up to volunteer need to attend one of the training sessions, which will be held Jan. 16 and 23 in 6:30 p.m. at The Rock.
For prom-goers who might be a little overwhelmed by all this excitement, there will be what they’re calling a “sensory room” where there will be a quieter environment.
”There’s a soft red carpet where it’s quieter and less crowded, but they usually love coming in,” Robertson said.
Cabbil said even going to the restroom will be a special event. There will be perfume, gum and somebody to take care of the prom-goers while they’re there.
The Rock’s pastor participated in Night to Shine at his former church in Illinois.
Finklea is excited about Night to Shine coming to Conway.
“As a church we just really believe in loving people and we believe that Night to Shine is going to be an in- credible night when we get to love people,” he said.
He said it’s an honor to partner with the Tim Tebow Foundation and it’s even more of an honor to minister to and love young adults and adults with special needs.
“I would always encourage anyone who had a teenager or adult child with disabilities to go online and get registered because it’s going to be one night they definitely don’t want to miss,” he said.
Everyone has been given consideration here, even the caregivers, who are invited to spend the prom time from 6-9 p.m. in the C3 Coffee Bar where they can relax while watching their children enjoy the prom over a live stream.
Robertson is already looking to the future saying Night to Shine will be an annual event now that the basics have been set in place.
“Our main purpose and focus is to let people know that, no matter their disability, they are welcome at our church and will be loved on,” Robertson said.
“A lot of people with children with special needs feel they aren’t welcome at churches. We just want them to know that they can come to The Rock...that we’re all children of the Lord. We’re just trying to open doors to people.”
Robertson said it isn’t unusual for parents of children with special needs to split their time at church, so one of them can stay home with their child because they’re afraid that special needs church-goers might be a disruption to others.
The acceptance of people with special needs is one of the reasons Robertson said her family started attending The Rock.
“It’s dark and loud, so if Caroline made noises, we didn’t get stared at...our environment is just different than a lot of churches because of lighting and music,” she said.
But again, she emphasizes that is open to any church that wants to be there, and that the community’s support is what will make this evening a huge success.
“We have an awesome community...and when I think about Caroline’s future -when I think about her being in Conway, I know people will talk to her and love on her. We’re just blessed to be part of this community,” Robertson said.
Go to to sign up guests. Robertson said for planning purposes they’d like to have people pre-register, but no one will be turned away.
Questions or comments can be submitted at info@rockc3.com or call
(843) 488-1195.
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