As you prepare to host Night to Shine, we are excited to provide some basic training resources that your team can use as part of your volunteer training and event planning. We have created several videos that we hope will help your team and volunteers feel equipped to serve and celebrate your honored guests!
Below you will find 7 videos: the first four videos were created to be shared at your volunteer training as an additional resource. The following three videos were made to be a helpful resource for your church and Night to Shine leadership.
Below each video description, there is a link to download an accompanying PDF that can be printed for your volunteers as an additional resource.
In this video, Brad Franklin, from Guidelight, shares a closer look at why including our friends with special needs is so important, along with some common pitfalls to avoid. This resource will help your volunteers gain an understanding of disability etiquette and best practices when building relationships with honored guests.
Download PDF: Disability Etiquette & Relationship Building
In this video, Charla Holst, from Overcomer Ministries, provides some practical tips that your team and volunteers can use to recognize and respond should an honored guest experience sensory overload at any point during the event. This video will help equip your team to provide support in a timely and meaningful way. You might consider using this video aspart of your churches buddy training.
Download PDF: How to Help Guests Regulate
In this video, Matt Mooney, from 99 Balloons, provides general guidelines and potential pitfalls to avoid for all volunteers at Night to Shine.
Download PDF: Volunteer Best Practices
Buddies are a crucial part of the Night to Shine experience. Buddy volunteers serve to ensure that all honored guests have an amazing and safe experience. Matt Mooney, from 99 Balloons, provides some best practices for buddies and volunteers who will have direct interaction with honored guests at Night to Shine.
Download PDF: Buddy Best Practices
Setting up your church’s Night to Shine Sensory Room or Calming Space, should not feel overwhelming. With thoughtful planning, you can provide the perfect environment for when a guest becomes overstimulated. In this video, Charla Holst, from Overcomer Ministries, describes how your church can set up a Sensory Room or Calming Space for your guests to use when they may be feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated by the excitement of Night to Shine.
Download PDF: How to Create a Sensory Room
In this video, Steve Chatman, from Rising Above Ministries, shares our heart to honor not only our guests with special needs, but also their parents and caregivers. It covers what a Respite Room can look like as well as some ideas and tips on how to offer parents and caregivers a true sense of respite while their loved one enjoys Night to Shine.
Download PDF: Respite for Parents and Caregivers
In this video, Matt Mooney, from 99 Balloons, provides insight into what scripture says about disability. It is our prayer that your church embodies this posture as you welcome individuals with disabilities and their families into your church for Night to Shine and beyond.