‘Night to Shine’

WANAQUE  Once again, the parishes of St. Francis of Assisi in the Haskell section of Wanaque and St. Catherine of Bologna, Ringwood, will host “Night to Shine,” a prom for men and women with special needs, on Friday, Feb. 7, at St. Francis, starting at 5 p.m. This past October, St. Francis committed to continuing the loving spirit of ‘Night to Shine’ year-round by starting a chapter of an ecumenical youth ministry for people with physical and developmental disabilities.

Organizers are seeking financial support for “Night to Shine” for 106 guests with special needs to attend the prom — an experience that many of them never had before. More than 280 volunteers will give the royal treatment to their guests, many of whom come from local special-needs organizations, including from the Department of Persons with Disabilities, an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities. Guests will dance the night away, soaking up the music, fun and friendship on this night of nights for them. The Tim Tebow Foundation is sponsoring the event, now in its third year at St. Francis.

“ ‘Night to Shine’ is an opportunity for people with special needs to celebrate and be celebrated and to experience God’s love by being served by the hands and feet of Christ: our volunteers. We are here to proclaim God’s love for them,” said Blair Ransom of St. Catherine’s, who coordinates the event with Lisa Crilly of St. Francis. They also coordinate a chapter of a new monthly special-needs youth ministry at St. Francis, Young Life Capernaum, selected by the Tim Tebow Foundation for its year-round “Shine On” initiative. “We want to be a faith-based support and resource for families and create a path for them to come back to church or into the church for the first time,” Ransom said.

For last February’s “Night to Shine,” the gym of the former St. Francis School was filled with the smiles and laughter of these special people of various shapes, sizes, abilities and ethnicities, ranging in ages from 14 to 72. Some walked with the help of canes or walkers, some rode in wheelchairs and one young man even came in lying in a stretcher. Accompanying them were their dates — or “buddies” — people from the two parishes and the surrounding community, their aide or a sibling.

The night started with a red carpet arrival, where volunteers welcomed guests, as they arrived by car. Then, they posed for a professional photo and listened to an inspiring video message by Tebow, a former professional football player who won the Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player while a student-athlete at the University of Florida. Currently, he is an outfielder for the N.Y. Mets Triple A team. After, guests and their buddies took their places at tables for a dinner, donated by local restaurants and served by volunteers.

“It’s so much fun to dance with my friends,” C.J., then 22, told The Beacon. That night, 655 Catholic and Christian churches around the globe came together to host a prom for a total of about 100,000 honored guests through the support of 200,000 volunteers. “This is a night for us. There are times that we can’t be part of something. Here, we can have fun; we don’t feel left out. It’s just ‘us.’ I also have friends here in wheelchairs, which shows that you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” C.J. said.

Guests enjoyed other activities in St. Francis’ classrooms, such as karaoke, a shoeshine for the men, a “touch up” with more makeup or quick hair styling for the women or a dark and quiet sensory room for some guests, who were experiencing anxiety. Meanwhile, across the parking lot in St. Francis’ church hall, volunteers served dinner to the guests’ parents or caregivers, as they enjoyed some entertainment, which included a comedienne and a musician.

This October, Ransom and Crilly expanded outreach of “Night to Shine” by establishing a chapter of Young Life Capernaum, a monthly ecumenical youth ministry for adolescents with special needs, ages 14 to 21, which meets monthly on the second Wednesday at 6 p.m. A respite room for parents and caregivers is provided as well. The trained volunteer leaders and buddies consist of people of several Christian denominations from around the area, Ransom said.

Meetings include dinner and fellowship; the singing of engaging songs; a talk by volunteers about a Bible story the “friends” can relate to, such as Jesus heals the paralyzed man; the appearance of a “crazy character” based on the club’s theme and acted out by a volunteer; and interactive games. Meanwhile, Crilly — who had a profoundly disabled daughter, Mary Therese Rose, who died at age three and now has adopted children, one of whom is disabled — brings parents or caregivers to the chapel of St. Francis Church. There, she shares the lessons in faith that their children are learning, while parents also share their stories, both joys and struggles, Ransom said.

Young Life Capernaum works with families to help remove any barriers to their attending services in their respective churches and, ultimately seeks to find ways for people with special-needs to become more active in their faith communities. Father Greg Golba, St. Francis’ pastor, has agreed to help his parish meet the spiritual needs of this often over-looked community, Ransom said.

“More people would like to come back to church. We need to invite them,” said Father Golba, who suggested that St. Francis might set up a video screen in the parish hall to broadcast the Mass for people with special needs who might find it difficult to remain in the church for the entire service. “We need to show people how much God loves them,” he said.

“Night to Shine” was also made possible by the generosity of many parishioners and local individuals, businesses, organizations and officials, as well as by the support of Father Golba and Father Pawel Szurek, St. Catherine’s pastor.

“For a night, people with special needs feel the spotlight on them and have no obstacles. It’s also a big night for the parents, who have their faith strengthened by the Church, which supports them in their struggles,” Father Szurek said. “Also the volunteers get to put their faith into action,” he said.