Making dreams come true for adults with life-threatening illness.

Sometimes you have to dream big to make a difference.

That's just what Dream Foundation founder and president Thomas Rollerson has been doing since launching his national nonprofit organization 15 years ago.

Models walk the runway during a Carolina Herrera fashion show in Miami featuring the designer's Spring/Summer 2010 line in October. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Based in Santa Barbara, the group grants wishes to adults diagnosed with terminal illness throughout the country, helping bring comfort, ease and a sense of closure in their final days. At last count, more than 8,620 dreams had been fulfilled.

The nonprofit will host its major fundraiser, the eighth annual Celebration of Dreams (formerly known as the First Ladies of Dream Foundation) dinner and fashion show, from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 6 at Bacara Resort & Spa. An after-hours party will go on until midnight.

The fashion show will feature looks from New York designer Carolina Herrera's Resort 2010 Collection.

The new line is inspired by the high-contrast layering of graphic lines found in the works of photographer Man Ray, with embellishments like grommets and lacing, a reserved color palate and a focus on the feminine.

Past shows have featured designers Valentino, Chloe, Diane von Furstenberg and Roberto Cavalli, among others.

"This event is harnessing fashion for compassion because that's what it's really all about," Mr. Rollerson tells the News-Press. "Beauty is within. Beauty is our ability to give."

While appealing to local fashionistas, the event celebrates recipients and their families served by the Dream Foundation and it's the organization's biggest fundraiser of the year.

Designer Carolina Herrera, chats with guests during a party for the opening of her new boutique in Bal Harbour, Fla. ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Funds go to making dreams come true," says Mr. Rollerson. "It's critical to our budget and critical to our ability to serve people over the (winter) holidays, which often are the last holidays that families will get to share together."

Local Dream recipients include a young hairdresser with cancer from Santa Barbara whose dream was to marry her boyfriend but who couldn't afford a wedding.

"She didn't ask for much. She just wanted to have all her friends and family there."

A local man with brain cancer living at Sarah House requested funding to bring his family to the area so he could see them before he died.

And an older Santa Barbara man with cancer wanted to go "somewhere sunny," to feel the sun on his cheek one last time. While his caregivers aren't sure if he'll live long enough to get his wish, "he is talking about it every day and it's his joy right now," says Mr. Rollerson.

"The fact that he knows his community cares and is listening is as important as making it happen."

Many patients make Dream requests to cover their basic needs, such as electric bills, comfortable mattresses and devices to help with mobility. 

"They're just very simple things that enhance the quality of one's life while they're battling a life-threatening illness."

Funds also go toward the Dream Foundation's Flower Empower program, which distributes more than 100 donated bouquets to people with catastrophic illness every Saturday in the Santa Barbara area.

Carolina Herrera, center, talks with assistant Phoebe Bubelmann, left, backstage at an October fashion show in Miami, held to raise money for a children's charity. ASSOCIATED PRESS

"American Idol" Season 8 winner Kris Allen will perform during Celebration of Dreams. And in a live and silent auction, guests can bid on items such as tickets to a taping of Fox's "American Idol" finale in Los Angeles, VIP tickets to see CBS' "Dancing With The Stars" filmed in Hollywood and a Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts six-night tour of Thailand.

Due to the recession, requests from families needing help are significantly up, while grants and corporate giving are substantially down, Mr. Rollerson reports.

"But I have been so impressed and encouraged by individuals who may not have as much to give but still give because they know that someone else needs it even more than they do," he says.

"They recognize the good of what we're doing. That gives an organization like ours increased hope during times of financial adversity."

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