Hundreds of special needs students attend prom at 8th annual ‘A Night To Remember’
Mission Church hosted their 8th annual prom known as “A Night To Remember,” for hundreds of special needs students in, and around Ventura County.
“We just want to really celebrate people who are often overlooked,” said Jen Oakes, who is the Director of the event. “We gather, and they are the stars.”
“A Night To Remember” is bigger than ever before.
“We first started off with 63 guest, and this year we have over 500 so it has grown like crazy,” said Oakes. “We started with about 200 volunteers and now we have over 2,000.”
This is the 8th year Ventura County students with disabilities get to attend prom.
“They get to come and get their hair and make-up done, they get in a limo, and come down a red carpet, with paparazzi cheering for them,” said Oakes.
Then it is off to the dance floor for the rest of the night. Each special needs student is accompanied by a host. People like Mayzee Oakes who is a junior at Oaks Christian high school.
“I think host is a really cool job because we get the privilege of actually experiencing the night with the guest,” said Mayzee. “One of our golden rules for the night is ‘It’s not about you’, and another one is ‘Drop The Cool Factor.”
The event has had an outpouring of local students who volunteered to be a host each year. This year the turnout has been overwhelming.
“We actually have a waiting list,” said Oakes. “We have 500 hosts, and then we have a waiting list of 300, trying to get in hoping that they can still come and be part of this event. These high school students are jumping in to say ‘We care about people with special needs,’ and it is pretty incredible.”
Mission Church raised over $60,000 to put this years dance together. And the smiles are worth every penny.
“As soon as they come into this room it is pumping all night long,” said Oakes. “Most of our guest don’t even want to come off the dance floor.”
“It is such a gift to unapologetically shower these kids with so much praise, and try to make them feel like they are worth a million bucks and more,” said Mayzee.
