Special needs prom event a night to remember in Northeast Philly

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA - One Philadelphia charity is doing something extra special to celebrate those with special needs. It was a night to remember as a prom event was held at Archbishop Ryan High School.

Athletes Helping Athletes, or AHA, has been helping connect local athletes with special needs community members for 22 years.

Founder, Rick Leonetti, explained, "They asked if they could start a prom and I said it’s not really athletic and they said, ‘Well dancing is,’ so I said okay. Let’s give it a try and here we are, doing it so many years later. This is the prom."

When students wanted to start that prom event six years ago, the AHA prom was born.

"We have these fun events, like this one. Archbishop Ryan has done the prom for about five years and each year it gets bigger and better and the kids all have a blast," Leonetti described.

Volunteers attend the prom to accompany special needs kids and adults who come to dance, walk the red carpet and have fun.

Caroline Jaggers exclaimed, "So excited! I can’t wait for the dancing!"

Every year, AHA raises tens of thousands of dollars for local charities through different events and the prom is just one of many, but, the prom is a crowd favorite.

Leonetti continued, "We knew it was going to be good for the special needs children and the adults but, what it has done for our volunteers is why we worked as hard as we did because it changed their perspective on life."