News

What a fantastic night – the room, fashion, music, fun and food (yes, it was even served on TV tray dishes) brought us back to a groovier time. Everyone looked fabulous — and how fun it was to channel our inner 60’s vibe.

Our most beautiful bundt contest (and winner Debbie Swanhart Doolan) paid homage to the desserts of the time. The hula hoop contest was so much fun – it is harder than it looks! And we chose several winners (it was too hard to choose just one) for our best outfit contest. All contest winners received a lava lamp!

We were so excited to have award-winning Marvel/DC/Star Wars illustrator (and more) John Stanisci sell his original drawings and prints.

And special thanks to our honorees for all the support that they give to Shine and Inspire and the community.

All of these beautiful photographs, by DoeRain Deane, captured the magic of the evening. We can’t thank her enough for all the support she continues to give Shine and inspire!

We thank and love all of you. Make a difference in someone’s life and it will make a difference in yours! Peace out …

Shine and Inspire partnered with Blend Bar & Bistro to deliver hot meals to homeless / displaced families in the community. The families also received an Instant Pot and spices from Knox Grove Financial and blankets from Project Linus. And an Easter basket treat for every child!

We had so much fun giving out books and making ornaments with the children at the TBOE Holiday Party. One of the major banks gave out bicycles! Denise and Brenda did a fabulous job as always!!

The children’s Winter Event was amazing! 135 children were our guests for a day of fun — music/dancing/games (by Dancemaur) caricatures/show (by Mr. David C. Perry), and awesome balloon figures (by Naomi), crafts, free haircuts (given by Carlee Mooney from G&D Salon in Robbinsville), free holiday portrait (photography donated by DoeRain Deane who always captures these joyous moments in pictures) and special guests Lt. Danny Mohr of the West Windsor Police Department, and seeing eye dog in training, Rebecca. Each child went home with winter clothing (shopping and wrapping by Amy, Tanya & Alyssa), pajamas (donated by Lala & Mimi’s Pajama Project), athletic wear (donated by Snipes), a blanket (donated by Project Linus), books (donated by BookSmiles) and a holiday present. The children were wonderful and so appreciative (talk about big smiles) – our hearts are full! Our thanks to AW Martin (one of our most supportive sponsors), and to all who sponsored a child or donated to our cause. And of course, this wouldn’t be possible without our volunteers who worked so hard to make this day so special!

To celebrate our 10th anniversary (wow, time did fly), we celebrated with A Night to Shine Roaring 20’s Edition fundraiser. It was a glorious night – the women were stunning in their flapper style dresses, and the men were dapper in Gatsby style. Simon amazed everyone with his magic (we can’t figure out how he does that), and tarot card readers helped peer into the future. Known for our Tricky Tray and Lucky Lady, we didn’t disappoint with lots of great items donated by people and businesses in our community.

We can’t thank everyone enough for your support – and especially Doe’Rain Deane for volunteering her photography services to capture these gorgeous images, DJs Maureen and April for the wonderful music and teaching the Charleston in true 20’s fashion, and to Brother’s Pizza on 33/NJ Weddings & Events for the delicious catering (and to Beth and Joanne who were at the hall first thing in the morning to set up the tables and chairs!).

What an amazing Children’s Summer Event – 80 children from needy families in our area were our guests for lunch, crafting, music, dancing (and some singing too). The most incredible balloon characters were the hit of the day! Each child went home with a backpack filled with school supplies, a book, shoes, clothing, pajamas (Lala and Mimi’s Pajama Project) and blanket (Linus Project) to start off their school year.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made this day so special for the children (there were smiles galore and not just on the children’s faces). Special thanks to Amy and Tanya who did all the shopping and put the backpacks together (just amazing), and Denise from the Trenton Board of Education who is always advocating for the children!

Our Purple Night to Shine fundraiser on June 23rd was just magical! We hope that everyone had as much fun as we did. We want to thank everyone who attended, as well as those who could not but made a donation or bought a Tori Burch raffle ticket. Your support goes a long way in helping our community.

We also want to thank our volunteers, those who contributed their services (our wonderful photographers Malachi Matcho, DJ’s Maureen and April, desserts from Dee’s Dee-lights, Angie’s Cupcakes and Seasons 52, not to mention our home bakers), people and businesses who contributed to our Tricky Tray and Lucky Lady (they were just amazing over 120 items!), our catering Brother’s Pizza on 33/NJ Weddings & Events (they worked so hard and delivered 200% and incredibly delicious food too), our dance lesson instructor Mike Andino, and our fantastic sponsors — AW Martin Construction, Amerigroup, Investors Bank and Northfield Bank!

If you have taken any pictures and wish to share, please post them to our Shine and Inspire Facebook page! As we like to say–Make a difference in someone’s life, and it will make a difference in yours–we hope you feel as fulfilled in helping as we do!