Area Youth to Have a “Night to Shine”

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

The night is going to sparkle, glimmer and glow. A red carpet will be rolled out, regional dignitaries and celebrities will be on site, cheerleaders will be cheering, sashes, crowns, spotlights, and flickering cameras will fill the night air on the grounds of The Grand Galvez.

Most of all, the joyous smiles of the young people who, unlike those of us who have full functioning abilities of our bodies and minds, will be enjoying a prom night designed just for them. Their happiness will illuminate the night skies.

Tim Tebow’s “Night to Shine” has found its way to the island of Galveston and everyone engaged in the process from the volunteers working on the event to the young people who will be attending are ecstatic. 

Raven Ornelas will be attending with her boyfriend, and she can’t wait. “I’m going to get my hair done and makeup. I’ll become a queen because we will all be crowned at our prom,” said Ornelas. 

“I’m really excited because I won’t have to drive for two hours. This year my son Owen will be able to attend a prom right here in Galveston,” said Lisa Owen, whose 16-year-old son has Down Syndrome. He attended a 2019 “Night to Shine” out in Tomball. 

Participants will be coming to Galveston island from as far away as La Porte and Pearland and many from communities in Galveston County

This will be the first year Galveston has had the honor of hosting a “Night to Shine,” and it came to be because of the dedication of Josephine Sullivan and her team at the Christina Sullivan Foundation. 

CSF provides the region with resources and events for inclusion experiences. So far, most of their work has been in the athletic arena. 

The Tim Tebow Foundation (founded by the 2007 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from the University of Florida) requires a church be the host of the event, and that presented a big hurdle for CSF to jump over because they are not affiliated with a church.

Prom Night is part of providing inclusion experiences for special needs individuals, and Josephine was determined that Galveston County needed to host a special needs prom night, so she went to work seeking out a church. Her hard work paid off, with Coastal Community Church agreeing to serve as the hosting church. 

“We were honored when the Christina Sullivan Foundation approached us about being the host church for this event.  They’ve made a huge impact assisting intellectually and physically challenged children and adults here in our community,” said Aaron Sanders, lead Pastor of Coastal Community Church. 

Next, Josephine put in an application with the Tim Tebow Foundation and then she had to wait and wait (and wait). With just 34 days before the event is to be celebrated, CSF got word back: they had been approved. “We were given 68 pages of rules for how we have to organize the night,” explained Sullivan. 

This year the event is hampered just a wee bit because of the continuing saga of the pandemic. The young people won’t be allowed to dance with each other or even mingle. An evening tailored to the times is what will be celebrated with the young people arriving at the Grand Galvez in automobiles driven by their parents or guardians. 

“A Night to Shine” will be celebrated on February 11 in cities across the US and around the globe with all celebrations being conducted as a parade of cars filled with the royal participants. 

The young people attending Galveston’s event will have the added delight of cruising on the Seawall in vehicles with a police escort and will make a couple laps around the Grand Galvez. 

After the participants have been crowned and photos taken at The Grand Galvez, they will head over to Ball High School to continue their evening in the parking lot for more festivities while sequestered in cars. Coastal Community Church will be providing the technology for videos to be broadcast on outdoor screens  showing prom events happening in other locations. 

UTMB’s staff and students are jumping in on the night with volunteers for decorating cars to helping with makeup and hair.

 “UTMB faculty, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and medical students are excited to partner with the Christina Sullivan Foundation for this event. Being in the community with people with disabilities for such a fun event strengthens relationships with our community partners and builds camaraderie across the health professions who are eager to serve this population,” said Dr Laurie Farroni, faculty-UTMB Department of Physical Therapy. 

If you would like information regarding how you can get involved or know of someone who is at least 14 years old with special needs, you can reach out to https://christinasullivanfoundation.org/