- April 24, 2024
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A fashion show will take place Monday to raise money for an Ormond Beach child.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
After years of treatments for leukemia, 4-year-old Tatum Gibbens, of Ormond Beach, was able to just to be a kid again, thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation. She met her favorite cartoon character, SpongeBob, and spent time having fun with her family.
The foundation sent the family on a Nickelodeon Cruise last November that featured the SpongeBob cast.
Tatum’s mother, Debbie, said it was an amazing experience and the family was treated like royalty.
“Her wish was to meet SpongeBob,” she said.” She was thrilled the whole time. It was nice to step back, take a breath and relax. She was just a kid again, not a kid with cancer.”
Gibbens said Tatum is doing great today and is still receiving treatments.
A Make a Wish Holiday Fashion Show is scheduled 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at the Daytona Beach Resort, 2700 N. Atlantic Ave. The Gibbens family plans to attend.
Kathy Smith, one of the organizers, said the money raised will benefit a Volusia County family in the Make a Wish program. Tickets cost $35 if ordered in advance or $45 at the door. Volunteers will model clothes from Patchington, lunch will be served and there will be a raffle.
Make a Wish volunteers help children decide on a wish by asking them questions about where they like to go and what they like to do.
Tatum told a volunteer about her love for SpongeBob, how she wanted to work with sea animals when she’s older and how she wanted to go on a cruise. The SpongeBob cruise was the perfect fit.
Carol Miskewitz and her husband, John, of Ormond Beach, have been wish grantors for six years, working with children throughout Volusia and Flagler counties.
Miskewitz said the only requirement is that a child have a life-threatening illness. The first step is to meet with the family and talk to the child about their wish.
“We had girl who went to WrestleMania,” she said. “That’s what she wanted to do.”
Other wishes have involved shopping sprees and meeting celebrities, such as Taylor Swift and Adam Sandler.
“Right now we’re involved with a room makeover,” Miskewitz said.
Miskewitz sometimes helps the child decide on a wish by looking at books with a lot of pictures.
“We gather information and help them select the wish,” she said. “If it’s a travel wish, we might have to coordinate passports,” she said.
Wish grantees are also guaranteed special treatment, such as not having to wait in lines at amusement parks. All expenses are paid by the foundation and many attractions and cruise lines offer discounts.
Miskewitz calls her volunteer work “very worthwhile.” She said the experience is a happy time families will be able to remember and share no matter what the outcome of the illness.
She said people tell her they don’t know how she can do what she does, since the children she works with have such serious illnesses.
“The good overwhelms the sad,” Miskewitz said. “There’s nothing wrong with being sad.”
For more on the fashion show, call 859-801-7185.
