Joy Prom 2010

Joy Prom April Update

2010-04-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who registered to be a volunteer at Joy Prom; we had such an amazing response, we shut down Volunteer Registration an entire month early because we reached our capacity in less than 4 weeks (AMAZING).

Assignments & Training: If you registered to be a volunteer, expect to be contacted by a Committee Captain by the end of April to learn what team you’re on. If your assignment involves interaction with Joy Prom guests, you’ll need to attend the mandatory training session at Charter Square in Foster City on Sunday, May 2, from 1-3pm (lunch provided at training; followed by an optional Q&A from 3-3:30pm). Those registered for Advance Prep., Decorations Only, or Clean-Up Only do not need to attend the training or Q&A.

If you registered to serve on the Event Staff and did not receive an E-vite for the training session, please let us know by sending an email to our Volunteer Coordinator at joyprom123@yahoo.com

If you are assigned to Event Staff and will not be able to attend the training, please be sure to let your Committee Captain know as soon as they contact you.

Clothing Drive: If you (or people you know) have formalwear you don’t envision wearing again – please consider donating it to our Joy Prom guests. We’re in need of all sizes and styles of men’s and women’s formalwear (plus shoes and accessories). We’re not just looking for gowns and tuxes – we’ll accept gently worn dress pants and shirts, jackets, vests, skirts, belts, purses, etc. We especially need large sizes (up to 3x); but will put all sizes to good use.

If you have clothing to donate, please bring it to Central Peninsula Church’s Women’s Bible Study on Wednesday, April 14 or to Men’s Fraternity on Thursday, April 15. The last chance to donate clothing will be at Central Peninsula Church (Foster City or Millbrae campuses) on Sunday, April 18. If you don’t attend CPC but have clothing to donate, please send an email to joypromclothes@gmail.com to make arrangements for a drop off prior to April 18.

Alterations: If you (or someone you know) is gifted in sewing, please consider helping with the clothing alterations for our guests. Send an email to: joypromclothes@gmail.com and someone will contact you with more information. All clothing-related questions should go to this address.

Thank you for your dedication and support. What a night it will be!

Sincerely, The Joy Prom Core Planning Team

March 2010 Joy Prom Update

2010-03-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

We have so much good news to share! Professionals from A Shine & Co., Chisel-It Ice Sculptures, Database Whiz Consultants, Dorian Productions, Gateway Limousine, Lone Star Limousine, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Prestige Portraits by Lifetouch, and the Red Cross are all generously donating their time, talents and resources to make Joy Prom a first-class celebration.

To guarantee you don’t miss your chance to take part in this amazing event – make sure you register online through our brand new website: www.joyprombayarea.com

Check it out and don’t be shy about forwarding the link to others. Registration will be open until the 150 guest, host and volunteer spots are filled. So even if you’ve already contacted us via email, completed a survey or signed up at a CPC Ministry Fair; please also register online – it takes less than 1 minute.

And just to review the basics: Joy Prom will be Sunday, May 16, from 5-9pm at the Crowne Plaza in Foster City. Most volunteer roles will take place closer to the event date, though some will start sooner. Training will be provided. The role of Host/Hostess will be filled by CPC’s Twenties Ministry. Guests are coming from a variety of special needs organizations, including: Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area, College of Adaptive Arts, Angels on Stage, Magic Makers and PARCA's Page Mill and Horizons assisted living complexes.

Please pray for the event and the positive impact it will have on our community.

Happy New Year Joy Prom Volunteers!

2009-12-31T09:14:00.000-08:00

If you receive a new 2010 calendar for Christmas, be sure to put Joy Prom down for Sunday, May 16, and be prepared to help out that day or during the weeks preceding.

We’re very excited to share with you the news of our newest guest groups. In addition to our original plan of having members of the Bay Area Down Syndrome Connection join our event, we’ve recently expanded our guest list to include members of PARCA’s Page Mill and Horizons assisted living complexes, as well as members of the Silicon Valley Down Syndrome Network.

We’ve been hard at work on the website and the generous people at Database Whiz Consulting are creating programs for the backend of our online registration forms. Expect to learn more about this in future updates.

We received our first monetary donation this month, for which we are extremely grateful. Though our goal is to get the majority of goods and services donated, there will indeed be some cash expenses. Those who wish to make a tax-deductible financial contribution to Joy Prom may do so by sending a check made out to Central Peninsula Church to the church office at 1005 Shell Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of the inaugural Bay Area Joy Prom. Shine On!

November - Joy Prom Update

2009-11-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

Joy Prom is just 6 months away and the core planning team is ready to accept commitments for donations of goods and services.

Please review the list below and if you or someone you know is able to offer any of the requested items or talents, send an email to: joypromcpc@gmail.com listing in detail what you can provide. (Variations of kind and quantity will be considered.)

Services:

* Professional Videographers
* Professional Photographers
* Professional Shoe Shine equipment and staff: enough to shine up to 75 pairs of shoes
* Partnership with local Tuxedo rental shops to offer discounts to guests

Souvenirs:

* Gift Bags: 500 medium-sized paper bags with handles; black, white or silver
* Ribbon: black, white and silver; enough to tie and curl around handles of 500 gift bags
* Tissue Paper: black or white; enough to fill 500 medium-sized gift bags
* T-Shirts with Joy Prom Logo: 500 shirts in varying sizes containing the full-color Joy Prom logo
* Photo Jackets with cover: 500 holders to insert 4X6 portraits; stamp or print Joy Prom logo on cover

Props for themed dances:

* Giant plastic sunglasses: 350 pairs
* Glow sticks or necklaces: 350 units
* Fake feather boas: 200
* Shiny top hats (New Year’s Eve-style): 200

Primping tools:

* Tiaras: 150 total
* Small, gender-neutral plastic hair combs: 300 total
* Shiny, clear or sparkly lip gloss: 150 total
* Light-colored blush/brush sets: 150 total

Decorations:

* Balloons, ribbon, helium: enough for 500 free-floating balloons (with ribbon) in a combination of black, white and silver
* Balloon Arch: composed of black, white and silver balloons
* Other shiny, festive decorations in black, white, silver and gold

Please keep in mind we are only asking for commitments at this time, not delivery of actual product. Joy Prom will take place on May 16, 2010, and we will begin collecting donated items in the spring.

And for those who were waiting to see the results of the guest survey, the responses from the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area indicate that our Down Syndrome guests:

* are mostly ages 15-19
* really want to ride in a limo
* will have a guardian on-site throughout the event
* prefer a mix of music styles
* have no preference between a DJ or a live band
* prefer finger foods

We are still gathering information that will allow us to better customize Joy Prom for the guests and we’ll share more insight into our discoveries in future updates. Until then, Shine On!

2009-10-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Things are still going strong with the Joy Prom planning process. We got the good word this week that the generous people at Database Whiz Consulting are going to create, maintain and host a Bay Area Joy Prom website for us – for free! Wa-hoo!

We completed and sent out a survey to our guest organizations (the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area and United Cerebral Palsy of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties). Results of this survey will help us tremendously in planning the more detailed aspects of the event (menu, music, etc.).

We finalized our formal donation request letter and are preparing to start actively inviting Bay Area businesses to make non-cash contributions. Think about those you know and the businesses you frequent. Are there opportunities for them to offer goods or services? If you have connections that you haven’t let us know about already, please send an email to joypromcpc@gmail.com and let us know who you think might be willing to donate to Joy Prom.

Many of you have been inquiring about donating formal wear. Please know this is one of the areas explored in our survey and by next month, once we’re reviewed the survey results, we hope to have a better idea about the need for clothing donations. So please hold on to those suits, ties, dresses and tuxes until further notice.

We’ll post a summary of the survey results here next month. Until then, Shine On! .

Location, Date, Partners and Volunteers!

2009-09-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

We have a location, date, logo and partners - plus hundreds of volunteers!
Slowly but surely, our Joy Prom planning is coming together. It's been a very productive week for the Joy Prom committee and we're thrilled to announce that we've received our first donation - a MAJOR donation!

The Crowne Plaza San Francisco Mid-Peninsula has generously agreed to let us host Joy Prom at their beautiful property in Foster City. The location is gorgeous, with a waterfall and palm trees in the lobby and top-rate ballrooms. They're not only giving us the space, they're also providing all the food for a sit-down dinner for 300 people! They're donating their banquet/catering services and we couldn't be more excited about it! The man who owns the hotel is an absolute inspiration and an amazing example of someone who knows what it means to love thy neighbor as thyself.

The Bay Area's first Joy Prom will be held on Sunday evening, May 16, 2010. Now that we finally have a date confirmed, we were able to put the finishing touches on our new logo. The logo is a collaborative effort by three people who, to date, have never corresponded with one another - Kevin Wansley, Sabrina Domine and Eric Bratcher. None of them are even official members of the Joy Prom planning committee, but they all know someone who is and were inspired to pitch in and help out. It's folks like this that are going to play a major part in making this event a success.

Additionally, both campuses of Central Peninsula Church (one in Foster City, one in Millbrae) held Ministry Fairs recently and gave members of their church body the opportunity to get involved in Joy Prom, either by doing volunteer work or by donating goods or services. Nearly 100 individuals signed up, plus we got support from the Children's, High School and Twenties groups that meet there. So now we have more than 200 potential volunteers! Those that belong to the Twenties are likely going to be the escorts for the 150 honored guests.

And speaking of guests, we've been in touch with different special needs groups throughout the Bay Area and we've partnered with two amazing organizations. The 2010 Joy Prom will be for guests referred to us through the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area and through United Cerebral Palsy of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Because space is limited, we'll only be able to accommodate guests from these two groups our first year. Who knows what we'll be able to accomplish in years to come!

For now, we're focused on planning for our inaugural event. If you know someone who would like to donate any prom-related goods or services, please have them contact Kim at joypromcpc@gmail.com

Joy Prom San Francisco 2010

2009-08-20T20:10:00.001-07:00

A little video showing a wonderful event coming to the San Francisco Bay Area in Spring 2010.

This community-sponsored event is a full-scale, first-class prom for people with special needs. For information on sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, please contact Kim at: joypromcpc@gmail.com

This video uses footage from Joy Prom in Las Vegas