Thirteen-year-old Michael Sayeski sat in front of a blank canvas with tubes of purple and brown paint. He painted inside the lines of an ice cream cone outline.
Sweet Dreams hosted a Dance Marathon fundraiser at its new location, 1040 E. University Ave., Monday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
About four families came to the Gainesville ice cream shop to participate in creating ice cream- themed artwork. Pieces will be hung in Sweet Dreams and auctioned off starting at $15 until March 20.
Nicole Martinez, a UF advertising junior and the public relations overall chair for Dance Marathon, said all the artwork’s proceeds and 20 percent of Sweet Dreams’ proceeds sold during the event will go toward Dance Marathon, a 26.2 hour event where more than 800 students stay on their feet to raise awareness for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Michael was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 2. At 4 years old, he began chemotherapy for four hours each week. Michael’s mother, Eileen Sayeski, 47, said he benefitted a lot from the games that Dance Marathon provided to the hospital.
“These young adults are amazing,” she said. “It’s great that they want to get involved in something that’s bigger than themselves.”
This will be Michael’s eighth year attending Dance Marathon.
“We want to give them as much of a normal childhood as we possibly can,” Martinez, 20, said.
Contact Elise Giordano at egiordano@alligator.org.
Michael Sayeski, 13, and Alexis Coryell, a 22-year-old UF finance senior, paint ice cream-themed artwork at Sweet Dreams’ new location, 1040 E. University Ave., on Monday in support of Dance Marathon.
