The secret of life, I think, is doing for others without the expectation of receiving something in return.
This is especially true when you do things for those so many simply forget about.
Tell me if this isn’t cool: Two years ago, the kids who attend LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont were sitting around thinking about a project to do for the community. Amanda Brown, the youth ministry assistant, dusted off a comment she remembered hearing from a since-gone pastor and mentioned it.
It was like a roomful of light bulbs going on, she remembers.
Next month, on Feb. 6, the students will host their third annual Special Needs Prom at Brookside Garden in Berthoud.
That’s an upgrade from the first year when, lacking money for anything too formal, they agreed to host prom at the church. They put the word out to the handful of families with a special-needs child or adult, put no age restriction on who could attend, raised money and did not charge the promgoers a cent to attend.
The word of mouth worked. Soon, people in the community, including those not belonging to the church, were offering to donate bridesmaid dresses or purchase ball gowns. Money for food and decorations flowed.
Nearly 40 special-needs teens and adults attended that first prom, Brown recalls.
“The kids, they were just awesome that first year, and so excited about making the night special, making people they didn’t even know kings and queens for a night.”
Last year, word spread even farther. Nearly 70 attended. Each girl or woman received a donated dress or gown, altered to fit perfectly at no charge.
The girls and women all arrived with newly coiffed hair, and corsages graced their arms or dresses. They ranged in age from teens to mid-50s. Some of the men arrived in tuxedos.
“Some brought dates,” Brown said. “OK, it might have been a caregiver, and some brought their parents as dates. Some did come alone, but even then, the entire idea was to party, to take part in something special for a night.”
She knows what you are thinking, or at least what I was.
“This is not an evangelical outreach or anything like that,” she said. “We’ve had some of that, parents thinking we’re trying to take their kids. It is not that at all.”
The students, she said, act as greeters, and serve the meals. They dance with the attendees.
“I think for them, it is a great opportunity to interact with people they normally would not have regular contact with.”
Ninety percent of those who attended over the past two years had never been invited to a prom, Amanda Brown said.
“You have no idea of the happiness and excitement of the guests. You have no idea of the calls from parents, who tell us how their daughter felt so special because a boy danced with her, put a corsage on her wrist and served her dinner.”
The owner of Brookside Garden, moved by the work of the students, donated the place for this year’s prom, which will run from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
“The students,” Brown said, “just want to show them they matter as much as anyone else.”
I told her I would help spread the word.
Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
