GALVESTON — It would be impossible to enter the Special People’s Ball at Moody Gardens and not notice what a good time everyone’s having.

The Daily News

At the ball on Sunday, music pumped loudly from the packed dance floor. Purple-and-green-decorated tables filled the entire ballroom — not one was unoccupied. Volunteers kept busy serving donated food and punch to ball attendees.

At the end of the song, the DJ called out to the crowd “Who’s going to the Special Olympics this year?” The room filled with attendees’ excited responses.

A mascot from the Johnson Space Center, a fuzzy blue star, didn’t go for longer than a minute at a time without sharing a hug.

The annual ball is an event planned through the volunteer office of the Hope Therapy Center. Moody Gardens donates the space, a large ballroom connected to the organization’s hotel.

Other businesses donate food and decorations and the DJ donated his time and equipment.

“All we had to pay for was small things like helium for the balloons,” said Yvette Schmidt, one of the event’s organizers.

She’s been involved in the ball for the past five years and said the point of it is to give mentally and physically challenged people a way to experience Mardi Gras in a safe, alcohol-free environment.

Schmidt said people come from as far away as Huntsville, New Caney and Bryan for the annual event. She even got some volunteers from Austin and Dallas this year.

“This year, we have more krewe involvement than in past years,” she said.

The Z Krewe and The Krewe du Vroom participated this year.

“I almost got a tear in my eye when I saw Krewe de Vroom come up on their motorcycles,” Schmidt said.

“To me its just so wonderful that so many people are making an effort to make sure that these individuals have a good time. It’s overwhelming that the community would get so involved in something like this.”

Somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 people attended Sunday’s ball.

Scmidt said over the years, the center has compiled a list of about 1,300 recipients whom they send invitations to each year. From that original 1,300, the invitations get forwarded and passed along to even more people through different organizations to all of their members.

To the side of the dance floor, Timothy Davis sat in a wheelchair with dozens of Mardi Gras beads in multiple colors around his neck. His parents, Tim and Diedra, were with him. Davis, of Lufkin, said his favorite part of the ball is the music.

Davis is a member of St. Giles Living Center in Lufkin, which passed along a ball invitation to Davis and his parents.

His mother said this was their first year to attend and that they were very impressed with the turn-out.

“We love it,” Diedra Davis said.

Jennifer Caffey, a first-year member of the Junior League of Galveston, was serving food and picking up trash at the event.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the kids to come and dance and interact with each other and other people,” she said. “I’m excited to see everyone dancing and having a great time.”

“Everyone’s very happy to be here,” added Carrie Sweeney, another first-year member.