At last year’s event, junior Johnny Cummings, public relations major and Spanish minor, enjoys the annual Night to Shine event at College of the Ozarks with his guest, Gabriel Casiano.

Event to provide prom night experience for guests with special needs

POINT LOOKOUT, MO. — College of the Ozarks will host its annual Night to Shine, sponsored by Tim Tebow Foundation, on Friday, Feb. 7, in the Silver Dollar City Parlor at The Keeter Center from 6 to 9 p.m.

This is an invitation-only, prom-like event for guests with special needs in Stone and Taney counties. Approximately 100 guests are expected to attend.

“This event is something we all look forward to annually at College of the Ozarks,” said Dr. Justin Carswell, vice president for Christian ministries and dean of the chapel. “This event is a wonderful evening for our students and campus community to impact and influence others with the love of Christ. We want to make this night memorable for people with special needs and allow them to revel in the fact that they are the sons and daughters of Christ, kings and queens in His kingdom.”

College of the Ozarks has hosted Night to Shine since 2016 and garnered great excitement and support from attendees and volunteers. Approximately 250 students are signed up to help with this year’s activities.

About Night to Shine

Every guest of Night to Shine enters this complimentary event on a red carpet complete with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi. Once inside, guests receive the royal treatment, including stops at the hair and makeup stations, shoe shining areas, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a catered dinner, karaoke, prom favors, a dance floor…all leading up to the moment when each guest is crowned king or queen of the prom.

Night to Shine is a worldwide movement changing Valentine’s Day weekend into a celebration of God’s love of people with special needs. When Night to Shine launched in 2015, 44 host churches and 15,000 volunteers worked together to honor more than 7,000 kings and queens of the prom. This past February, 655 host churches and 200,000 volunteers came together to celebrate 100,000 honored guests with special needs.  Now in its sixth anniversary year, the Tim Tebow Foundation is seeing new churches sign up continuously.

“Night to Shine has been a blessing to the Tri-Lakes region throughout these past few years, and we are thankful to be a partner with them in this ministry,” Carswell said. “It allows us to be part of an international movement to share God’s love with the special needs community and their families and caregivers.”

Guests for this year’s invitation-only Night to Shine event were chosen with the help of several agencies in Taney and Stone Counties that provide services to people with special needs. Participating agencies include the following:

• Barnabas Life
• Chances of Stone County
• LinkAbility
• New Hope Development/Cedar Creek Coffee

About Tim Tebow

Tebow is a two-time national champion, first round NFL draft pick, and Heisman trophy winner. Tebow played three years in the NFL for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and New England Patriots. He grew up the son of missionaries, and even after moving to Florida as a child, he returned to the Philippines as a teenager — to spread God’s word, and do the Lord’s work, by serving the needy. He carried that calling with him to the University of Florida, where in addition to leading the Gators to two national championships and winning the Heisman Trophy in 2007, he also devoted himself to charity — raising money for pediatric cancer patients and disadvantaged children.

About Tim Tebow Foundation

The Tim Tebow Foundation exists to bring Faith, Hope and Love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. That mission is being fulfilled every day through the foundation’s seven areas of outreach, including W15H, Timmy’s Playrooms, Orphan Care, Adoption Aid, the Tebow CURE Hospital, Team Tebow and Night to Shine.

For more information on the Tim Tebow Foundation, please visit www.timtebowfoundation.org.