Sixteen-year-old Jade was feeling very appreciative after battling her life-threatening illness. She felt like her friends and classmates had been extremely supportive during her treatments and decided to include them in her Make-A-Wish^® experience. The high school junior asked wish granters with the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® of Oklahoma to give her a post-prom party to thank her peers for their support. With sponsorship from Jewelers Charity Fund for Children (JCF), Jade and her fellow Crescent High School students partied into the wee hours of the morning during Jade’s Luau Bash.

Knowing that Jade’s party would be preceded by her prom, the board members of the Oklahoma Jewelers Association decided to present her with an elegant gift. The group worked together to create a hand-carved birthstone pendant, which they gave to her at their spring seminar the week before the prom.

As the prom drew closer, Jade hunted for just the right dress for the occasion and found it in the form of a new red, beaded gown. She also bought shoes and accessories, and had her own personal makeup artist and hairstylist – all compliments of JCF. Even her date received a tuxedo for the night. On prom night, a limo picked up the charming couple and took them to an off-campus site for the formal event.

Jade’s second limo ride of the night came after the prom when she and her date headed over to Jade’s Luau Bash – a “lock-in” at the high school gym organized by Make-A-Wish volunteers and sponsored by JCF. Organizers set the tone early by sending out invitations that listed one of the luau’s rules as “You must have fun.”

Where there had previously been basketball hoops and hardwood floors, the gym now sported palm trees, foliage, a D.J., karaoke, a mechanical bull, a bungee run, photographers, food, carnival games and plenty of teen revelers. All the details were taken care of, right down to the hula hoops, leis, beach balls, grass skirts, and coconut beverages with miniature umbrellas. Jade mingled with her friends, posed for lots of pictures, and even rode the mechanical bull. In the end, she considered the whole night to be magical.

Jade is now a high school senior, but she is holding on to one of her prom night souvenirs. She would like to get married in her prom shoes because they are so beautiful to her.