Their holiday lights display gives hope to sick kids!

For almost a decade, Amy and Don Zombek have been festooning their house in a spectacular display of Christmas lights that draws thousands and has raised tens of thousands for Make-A-Wish

- Kellie B. Gormly

“Together, we’ll think of something meaningful and fun,” Amy and Don Zombek told their son, Mitchell, as he wracked his brain to come up with an idea for his middle school National Honor Society project in 2014.

“Well, Christmas is only a few months away, what if you did something then?” Amy suggested.

The Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, family were big Christmas lovers. “Great idea,” Mitchell and his dad agreed, and after more thought, they decided to deck out their house with a fabulous light show, where people could drive by and drop off donations. But which charity would they support?

Suddenly, a sad memory came to Don, who recalled his cousin, Kevin, who had passed away many years ago at just 1 year old from leukemia.

That was so tragic, Don thought, and he told his wife and son, “Why don’t we use our light display to help seriously ill kids like Kevin?”

Lifting spirits 

That Christmas season, Mitchell and his parents illuminated their house with about 8,000 lights and raised about $2,900 for Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia. When the lights came down, with Mitchell’s project requirement satisfied, that could have been that. But Amy and Don wanted to do more and decided to make the Zombek Christmas Light Display charity event an annual tradition.