Adopt-A-Wish Holiday Campaign on Horizon |
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On a hot August day on a steamy farm, thoughts turned to ... the holidays!
Our Capital Region wish star ambassadors gathered a few weeks back at Ellms Family Farm in Ballston Spa. They were there to record promo spots with our media partner WRGB Ch. 6 that you will see supporting our 29th annual Adopt-A-Wish Holiday Campaign that starts in November.
You will hear more about these six Capital Region ambassadors and our two from the North Country in the weeks and months ahead.
The annual campaign, in which paper stars featuring our ambassadors are sold for donation at malls and businesses, is unique among Make-A-Wish America chapters. The community can also get involved in other related activities, including our Holiday Wish Heroes Challenge, which in part will celebrate our upcoming 2,000th wish as a chapter!
Over the course of the holidays, the campaign – highlighted by our Day of Wishes Telethon – can fully fund nearly 20 wishes!
And that is all due to the generosity of our sponsors, our volunteers and our community. YOU make this happen. And we can just feel the holiday spirit – even on a hot summer day.
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Make-A-Wish Community Walks the Walk (For Wishes) |
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After a year of walking apart and wishing together, the Make-A-Wish Northeast New York community once again gathered as one at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy for the chapter's annual Walk For Wishes, raising nearly $102,000 for wishes for local children with critical illnesses.
This year’s event featured 384 participants who walked with us near and far! Many walked from neighborhoods and parks, while many joined us at The Joe, masked and ready! The opening ceremony included moving testimonials from wish mom Crystal Aleschus, wish kid Riley, wish granter Diane Duquette-Burl, corporate partner CAP COM Cares Foundation representative Paige Rueckert and our very own CEO, Bill Trigg. The biggest highlight, though, was the emotional wish reveal for wish kid Karson (see below).
A wonderful surprise came when we were able to announce that Team Austin’s All-Stars, captained by wish aunt Kassie Cleary and wish mom Crystal Aleschus, had raised more than $12,000 – enough that they will now be able to sponsor a wish for a local child and pay it forward in memory of their very special wish kid, Austin. Congratulations to them on their hard work and dedication. We are honored to be a part of Austin’s legacy!
We'd once again like to thank Presenting Sponsor Upstate Chevy Dealers and all our sponsors, as well as our media partner Albany Broadcasting Company and our host, the Tri-City ValleyCats, for making the Walk such a success!
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Karson Stunned by Trick-Play Wish |
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Make-A-Wish Northeast New York wish kid Karson traveled down from the North Country for an overnight stay in the Capital Region, under the impression the trip was primarily a school shopping expedition.
The next day, he was told the family would also stop by the chapter’s Walk For Wishes at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, where Karson would say a few words about his pending gaming computer wish.
“I always really liked gaming,” Karson, 10, told host Chad O’Hara of B95.5 FM and the crowd on Saturday. “It makes me not think about what I’ve been through. It takes my mind off of it.”
O’Hara said Karson’s computer wish obviously could not be granted at the ballpark, but surprised the delighted Jay youth with his computer chair. Then O’Hara directed attention to the ballpark videoboard.
With growing shock, Karson watched a video of workers installing a gaming computer system – his gaming computer system – in his home. ...
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SpyderQuest Rolls Again for Wishes |
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More than 350 riders came out this past weekend for the 8th annual SpyderQuest rally, the second time the event has been held to benefit Make-A-Wish Northeast New York.
This edition of SpyderQuest raised more than $4,000 to help create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses! Heartfelt thanks go out to the organizers and all who participated.
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Thousands of Wishes, One Way to Start |
In this, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, is it important to remember that for a child fighting cancer, hope is essential.
Make-A-Wish America has granted more than 500,000 wishes to children with critical illnesses, but we’re not done yet.
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Just a Call to Say Hi, and Thank You |
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You might be getting a call from us in mid-October.
No, we will not be asking you for money. Make-A-Wish never asks for money over the phone. (If you ever get such a call, report it to us and your local authorities: It's fraud.)
We will be calling just to say thanks, part of our Thank-A-Thon.
From time to time, we like to reach out to donors of all levels – not to ask for more, but just to personally say how much you mean to us and especially wish kids and their families. Call us old-fashioned, but some things deserve a phone call from an actual human being.
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Wish Granter Training Sessions Slated For Fall |
The chapter will host a pair of training sessions this fall for wish granters – one for existing volunteers, the other for those wishing to become wish granters.
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, virtual continuing education training sessions for existing wish granters will be held at noon and 6 p.m. (You can pick one time.) Topics will include ways to be involved outside of wish granting and updated policies.
On Saturday, Nov. 6, the chapter will host in-person training for new wish granters at its office at 3 Washington Square in Albany. The training will begin at 9 a.m. and should end at 3 p.m.
For more information or to register, please contact Manager of Volunteer Engagement Ray Gawlak at rgawlak@neny.wish.org or 518-456-9474.
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Pondering Our Priceless Volunteers |
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"Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless."
-- Sherry Anderson
At Make-A-Wish Northeast New York, we have long recognized we could not conduct our mission of creating life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses without the help of hundreds of volunteers.
I ponder this fact often, marveling at the people I like to call the mortar that holds the edifice of Make-A-Wish together.
I thought of that at the many community events put on by volunteers this summer to benefit the chapter, and the many hours it took to organize these fundraisers, and how many more turned out to make these events a reality.
I think of this fact with every wish, and of the wish granters and benefactors who help craft such memorable experiences for our wish children and their families. Jaxon's treehouse wish in July comes to mind, in which Delaware Engineering, Curtis Lumber and BBL Construction Services came together to design and build Jaxon's awesome treehouse!
I think of this every holiday season, as we put out a call for volunteers to staff our Adopt-A-Wish Holiday Campaign tables, and how numerous people in both the Capital Region and North Country respond.
I understand there are only 24 hours in a day – 168 hours in a week. Lop off 96 hours each week for sleeping and work, and that leaves precious little free time to do all you need to do and still have time for yourself, family and friends.
And still people give of themselves to Make-A-Wish. That says something, about the organization, our community and the quality of these volunteers.
Our Adopt-A-Wish Holiday Campaign kicks off in November. If you find yourself by one of our tables, be sure to say hi to these volunteers, and ponder the nature of these giving people. Better yet, become one yourself.
Trust me: The experience will be priceless.
With immense gratitude,
Bill Trigg
CEO, Make-A-Wish Northeast New York
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Make-A-Wish Northeast New York
3 Washington Square
Albany, NY 12205
(518) 456-9474
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