- Hundreds of community donations made for a successful Night to Shine 'Prom Boutique.'
- Night to Shine guests got to pick out dresses, suits, shoes and accessories for free ahead of their special night.
- Watch the video to see how an outpouring of community support made it possible and what it means to the special needs community.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Hundreds in the special needs community are getting ready to dress to the nines for Night to Shine! I'm Kenya Cardonne in the Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood. A free Prom Boutique made sure guests had tons of options to choose from, thanks to community donations.
"Yes, it is my favorite color. I like it because it's so amazing."
Chloe Heather Novak said yes to the dress!
"I got a suit, black pants, red shirt, black tie.."
And Robert Allan said yes to the suit!
They are two of hundreds getting their outfits together for Night to Shine, a prom event for the special needs community less than a month away.
"And what we are doing is providing all of the attire that is needed by our prom guests."
Last week, I told you about a Prom Boutique organizers needed donations for to help guests with the quick turnaround on the event's cancellation.
"Oh my gosh, the community has just blessed us with an outpouring."
The Prom Boutique went from one small rack to more than 30.. filling Immanuel Baptist Church with thousands of pieces to help neighbors stun from head to toe.
"I guess we're shocked, but we're not, because we know that's how good the community of Tallahassee and its surrounding smaller communities are," Prom Boutique coordinator, Vickie Bass said.
Seamstresses were on-site to make each selection a perfect one.
So were volunteers, including the Sopchoppy neighbor who smashed her goal to pitch in by donating dozens of dresses and suits.
"Oh I love this. I've been helping them pick out," said Judy Brown, with Sopchoppy United Methodist Church, "and you know you encourage them, 'look at this dress with big pink sparkles all over it. Do you want this?' and they're so excited just to have something special, and to be treated specially."
Now, the countdown to Night to Shine is on!
Chloe Novak said "I'm so excited."
This will be Chloe's first prom.
Carolyn Novak, Chloe's Mom told me "So this year is our Night to Shine, and she's been wanting to go to a prom and a party, and she likes to dance, so it's going to be awesome."
Carolyn says the community's support in making Night to Shine and this Prom Boutique possible means a lot to her especially since Chloe can't go out often because she is immunocompromised.
"Quality of life, right? So this is something that she'll never forget. It's priceless," Carolyn said.
Another helping hand that guests are getting is with haircuts! Registered guests can get a free haircut at any Sport Clips location in Tallahassee.
Reporting from Northeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27
