UTSA charity orgaization FTK puts on annual fashion show to support kids battling cancer.
“So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!” – J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
This Friday, Nov. 10, the Liu Auditorium (Business Building 2.01.02) at the UTSA Main Campus will take a trip to Neverland from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. during a fashion show hosted by UTSA’s For The Kids Dance Marathon nonprofit organization, and the pixie dust to get you through the door is free. Mocktail hour starts at 6:30 p.m.
For The Kids (FTK) charity organization at UTSA is a team of dedicated students who have proven change for the better can happen with a little faith, trust and pixie dust. FTK does this via “raising money, providing emotional support and raising awareness for families battling childhood cancer,” according to this statement on Rowdylink with events such as blacklight Zumba, a spectacular dance marathon, and this Friday’s annual fashion show.
The theme for the show changes every year, and this year’s theme is Neverland.
The show will feature happy children, who are battling cancer, escorted by student leaders from UTSA as the model line-up.
The children get to dress up in whatever makes them the happiest, give their best strut down the runway and escape their usual hospital setting for a while.
This night is their moment to take the spotlight, to forget the role cancer plays in their life and to be whoever they want to be.
According to Samantha Holub, FTK Awareness Director, the goal is to gather as many people as possible to join the kids’ friends, family and hospital staff in the crowd because as she says “the more people cheering the kids, the happier the kids will be.”
Furthermore, there will be food and drinks for sale at the event, as well as a silent auction. According to Cristian Gamboa, FTK’s fundraising chair, the silent auction will begin at 6:30 p.m. with roughly fifteen baskets for attendees to place donations on until 8:30 p.m. which is when the winners will be announced. The proceeds from this auction will go directly to the FTK partnership with University Hospital. FTK speaks to the hospital’s physicians, who help FTK distribute the fundraised money to families that need priority aid.
Families who sign up for FTK’s assistance do not know how much they will receive when they first apply. Gamboa also shared that when they give the families a call, “they’re always so thankful. And it’s not a one-time aid.
We build relationships with our families and always invite them to all our events!”
Samantha Holub, FTK awareness director, and Madysin Carter of FTK community engagement encourage people to attend this Friday’s fashion show to see where FTK’s hard work goes to and to support these remarkable kids.
More information is available on FTK’s Facebook (For The Kids Dance Marathon at UTSA), and their Instagram and Twitter handle: @ftkdmutsa. Everyone is invited, and we can’t wait to see you there.
