ANGOLA - Angola Prison hosted its first Daddy Daughter Dance ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, giving many fathers a chance to interact with their daughters for the first time. 

The event, created by God Behind Bars in partnership with leadership at Angola, aimed to create an experience based on dignity, connection and restoration with the fathers gifting the daughters with flowers, Bibles and handwritten letters.

Fathers wore custom-designed Amor Suits as they welcomed their daughters into a ballroom transformed from a classroom within the prison. 

"I watched a group of men stand with pride and dignity, shedding every label the world had ever put on them. For one night, they were not inmates. They were Dad," founder of God Behind Bars, Jake Bodine said. 

Families shared Thanksgiving meals as a local Baton Rouge artist painted portraits of the festivities, which concluded with a choreographed dance routine that the fathers had practiced for weeks.

"When I turned around and saw my baby in that dress, and she busted out crying, I sobbed," incarcerated father Leslie said. 

"I asked her why, and she said, 'Dad, I finally get a chance to dance with you for the first time.'"

God Behind Bars partners with churches and ministries nationwide to help incarcerated individuals and their families, with programs like weekly church campuses inside correctional facilities and family-reunification events.