TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A college freshman from Lutz is receiving her “prom redemption” from a local radio DJ after missing out on the experience during her senior year.

Babs Littleton, who anchors the midday show on WiLD 94.1 on weekdays recently put out a contest on Instagram in conjunction with Prestigious Promotions and asked parents of seniors to send her a direct message about their child who had missed their prom in the past year.

Jennifer Cobb, mom of college freshman Tiasia McMillan and loyal 94.1 listener, knew their story wasn’t what Littleton was initially looking for, but decided to send her a message about her hardworking student-athlete daughter anyway.

“She was not able to have her senior prom last year. So I said, ‘she’s going with her boyfriend this year, he’s a senior.’ So I said, ‘I don’t know if this is something that you guys are going to do for kids,’ for I guess, for her instance, being that she’s not a senior. But I let her know that Tiasia missed out on prom last year, she did have her prom dress still,” Cobb told 8 On Your Side.

Cobb said she wanted to uplift her daughter’s spirits after a tough year without prom and graduation along with a rough first year at Colgate University in New York due to coronavirus protocols.

“We didn’t have our prom. It was upsetting,” McMillan said. “And then we didn’t have our trip and our graduation was a small group of our families, and it wasn’t like a real graduation so we didn’t get to have that experience.” 

Fast forward to Wednesday, and McMillan was gifted by Littleton at her home the means to cover not only her dress, but her hair, nails and more.

Littleton said she can’t imagine what it would be like to have not attended her own prom and she and her friend at the promotions company wanted to give back this year. She picked McMillan because her mom was so passionate.

“My dad always told me… because there are a lot of radio personalities I look up to… they have a mission. So he’s like, ‘don’t just be on the radio without a mission. Do things for the community.’ And that’s why I like doing cool stuff like this!” Littleton said.

It means a lot to Cobb as a mother, because as all parents know, prom can get exceedingly expensive. Now, Cobb’s daughter can “go all out” and get whatever she wants for her big day.

“I’m very thankful. I appreciate [Babs] taking her time out… For her seeing Tiasia’s story for what it is, and what she’s been through. I know Babs is young, you guys are young, so you can only imagine how it felt for her to have to deal with this,” she said.

McMillan said it means everything to her and her boyfriend, Charles, who is also a student athlete.

Prom is on Saturday and the couple is ready to celebrate after a tough year.

“You want that experience. I’m really excited to be able to do this and be a part of this right now.”