Prom Night For Special Needs Guests In Cinnaminson Friday

CINNAMINSON, NJ — On Friday night, guests with special needs from across the region will have the chance to experience the magic of prom night in Cinnaminson.

Crossbridge Community Church will host a Night to Shine event at The Merion in Cinnaminson Friday night. It is one of more than 700 churches across the nation that are participating in the event, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation.

All the guests — about 145, according to the church’s special needs coordinator Jeanine Robbins — will enter on a red carpet, complete with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi.
There will be hair and makeup stations, shoe shining areas, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a catered dinner, karaoke, prom favors and a dance floor. At the end of the night, each guest will be crowned king and queen of the prom.

There is a prom dress drive for the women, and Men’s Wearhouse offers discounts to men attending the prom. The prom is free, and is paid for by donations from the local community and sponsorships.

“The special needs community can be forgotten,” said Robbins, who said the event brings together people of all walks of life and drives home the point that everyone is the same.

Former football player Tim Tebow established his foundation in 2010, and the Night to Shine has been part of the foundation’s calendar for about six years.

Robbins has a special needs daughter, and has been aware of the Night to Shine from the start. So when the pastor of her church brought the event to her attention, she jumped right on board. Crossbridge has been participating for three years, and this is the second consecutive year The Merion will host the event.

Tebow started the foundation in order to “bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need.” The foundation has provided $3.5 million in financial support to hundreds of churches who needed help putting the events together, Robbins said.

A special needs prom provided that light to a group of Hillsborough special needs students after they were forced from their senior prom last spring.

The prom is for all ages. This year, guests range in age from 14 to 60, Robbins said. Eight professional photographers are brought in to take pictures, and a special dinner is provided to the parents that includes a DJ.

“We’re here to celebrate the parents as well,” Robbins said.

The church is based in Swedesboro, but guests will come from all over the region, including Philadelphia, Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, and Mullica Hill, among other towns.

The first event in 2018 saw 70 guests and 180 volunteers, Robbins said. Last year, the number of guests doubled to 135 with the assistance of over 250 volunteers.

“These numbers are incredible considering Crossbridge Community Church is a small portable church that meets in a local high school,” Robbins said. “In Woolwich and the surrounding towns, Night to Shine is uniting individuals of different denominations and various walks of life with the common goal of celebrating people with special needs.”

For more information on Friday night’s event, visit https://crossbridgecc.org/night-to-shine/.

For more information on the Night to Shine, visit: http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/index.php/night-to-shine/.