They laughed, talked, listened, raised money and danced the night away.

Not even the torrential downpour or a slight power outage could stop the hundreds of people enjoying the night.

The school was in desperate need of an upgrade to its SEU following an increase in enrolments of children with mild to severe disabilities.

An emotional slideshow, depicting the history and development of the SEU, moved the audience and the importance of the night became apparent.

Words written on laminated place mats by students reinforced the underlying message of the night.

“I like it in concerts when everyone is in it. There are kids that have a disability who get a chance and get to have fun,” Gabby, 11, wrote.

“It was fun cooking with the Special Ed kids for Fathers Day,” Sara, 11, wrote.

An emotional Mudgee Public School principal Mark Young could not put into words his appreciation of the amount of support shown by the community.

“Hard to describe the night,” he said.

“I’m speechless. I’ve just got to say thank you, thank you to everyone in the community, to everyone who is here tonight, you have made a big difference.”

Special guest speaker for the night, St George Illawarra and former Queensland and Australian rugby league coach Wayne Bennett, was taken aback at the compassion displayed by the community.