Please pray for Joy Prom 2011!

While our church is not hosting Joy Prom this year, I would appreciate it if you would join me in praying for Joy Prom 2011, which will be a week from tomorrow. Here is an article that are published in the Raleigh News & Observer's Midtown section on April 27, 2011, about the event (and please forgive the writer for a couple spots in which person-first language is not used! I'm reprinting it exactly as it was in the paper).

This prom is a night of joy
2011 Joy Prom coming May 13

[By Nancy Chang, Correspondent]

Prom season is in full swing throughout the area, and one local church is making sure everyone gets the chance to create the memories associated with that special night.

When the red carpet is rolled out at Crossroads Fellowship Church on May 13, it won't be groups of your typical teens making an entrance - it will be a woman with Down's syndrome, or a boy with autism.

Hundreds of special needs teenagers and adults from across the Triangle are expecting to converge on the church for the 2011 Joy Prom, an evening when everyone is treated like the prom king or queen.

A Joy Prom is designed for people ages 16 and older with intellectual and/or physical disabilities.

It's an event that has spread across the nation, with churches and organizations from Nevada to Florida planning proms of their own so that those with special needs can create prom night memories that so many other teens and adults have.

"This event is such a special evening for individuals with disabilities and their family members and caregivers," said Susan Swearington, Abilities Enabled Coordinator at Crossroads Fellowship.

"Most of our guests will not or did not have a chance to attend the prom at their high school, so they really have a great time at the Joy Prom."

Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh has hosted the Joy Prom since 2004. The event started out as an 11th grade project, and the first prom saw 175 guests in attendance.

Last year's prom welcomed more than 500 guests and 700 volunteers.

Providence even created a manual to help guide other churches in hosting their own proms. According to the manual, the church uses Luke 14:12-14 as a guiding scripture, which reads in part: "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed."

"We hold the Joy Prom each year to be obedient to Christ's words in this verse," said Swearington.

"It's a great, fun way to minister to individuals in our community who have special needs, as well as their families and caregivers."

This year's prom theme is "Rock Around the Clock," so guests will come dressed in their formal and '50s best. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 10:30 p.m.

Guests will begin the evening with a walk down the red carpet, where members of the "paparazzi" will snap photos of all the glitz and glamour. The ladies in attendance will have an opportunity to get their hair and makeup done at Frenchy's Hair and Make-up Salon, while the gentleman can pay a visit to the Route 66 Shoe Shine.

All guests will receive a boutonniere or corsage, and once the pampering is complete they will have a chance to have their prom portraits made. There will also be dinner, desserts, and, of course, dancing.

Crystal Hostetler of Raleigh and her husband Dave will be volunteering as hosts on the night of the event. "There is a place for everyone who wants to volunteer: from being a host to someone with special needs, to helping in the glamour area with shoe shining and makeup, to preparing and serving food, to greeting the parents and caregivers, to decorating and much more," she said.

Swearington says volunteers don't need to know anything about special needs to get involved. High schoolers are welcome to volunteer, and kids as young as 10 can volunteer along with their parents for some of the jobs. There will be opportunities for volunteers to attend training before the big event.

"Many past volunteers have said that (it) was more fun than their own prom in high school," she said. "The volunteers work very hard, but at the end of the night, they have had so much fun that they can't wait to volunteer again next year. It's a great way to be a blessing to a group of people that will bless you much more in return."

Hostetler and other volunteers are also working to collect formal dresses to create a boutique shopping experience for some of the ladies who will attend.

Dresses of all sizes are being accepted and may be dropped off at the Crossroads, located at 2721 Millbrook Road in Raleigh.

Volunteers also will accept donations at a Chick-fil-a fundraiser Thursday.

"There is something for everyone to do, and what a fun, easy way to get involved in giving back to the community," Hostetler said. "Everyone deserves their big day, and this is theirs.

"It will bring so much joy to them - it truly is a joy prom."