January 13 is Make your Dream Come True Day. 8-year-old Gabriel of Greenville wished for a camper, and Make-A-Wish Wisconsin made his dream come true thanks to generous donors in the community. Community Foundation funds supporting Make-A-Wish Wisconsin are listed below this article.

By Kris Teofilo, Senior Regional Director Make-A-Wish Wisconsin

Together, through Make-A-Wish® Wisconsin, we grant life-changing wishes for local children battling critical illnesses. The gift of a wish replaces fear with hope, anxiety with strength and sadness with joy. For many, their wish marks a turning point in the fight against their illness.

This past year, we have granted hundreds of wishes safely for kids including campers, boats, shopping sprees, room rennovations, electronics, puppies and even horses, to name a few. However, our work is far from done.

Currently, more than 500 kids are waiting for a wish from Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, which means right now there are hundreds of kids anxiously counting the days until their life-affirming wish is granted.

“I wish to be a princess at Walt Disney World!” says Tabitha, age 7 of Kaukauna, who has a brain tumor. Her wish is one of the more than 500 life-affirming wishes currently pending.

Please see our new Power of a Wish video, which features a few of our wish families and the impact you can help make in a local child’s life:

Makayla

Meet wish kid Makayla from Northeast Wisconsin, who is living with an uncontrollable seizure disorder, which has severely impaired her development. She receives a lot of different therapies to help with her speech, balance and motor skills, which are all impacted by her frequent seizures. Makayla’s favorite therapy is when she gets the chance to ride a therapy horse. Makayla’s greatest wish to have her very own therapy horse was recently granted!

“Makayla has always had confidence issues, believing she could not do anything or would not be good at anything. She has wanted a horse since she was 6 years old, but due to her illness and me losing jobs because I needed to be with her, I was never able to save enough to buy her one. Since you wonderful people have granted her wish, Makayla now feels she is good at something and that’s having her own horse and taking good care of him! You have changed my daughter’s life in ways you will never know and I’m truly grateful for each and every one of you who made this possible for her!” – Makayla’s mom Carrie

Dominic, 5-years-old, Appleton: Langerhans cell histiocytosis. “I wish to have a toy shopping spree!

Elena, age 13 of Appleton, has end-stage renal disease “I wish to have a home movie theater!”

Together, let’s give our local wish kids a piece of their childhood back, because every child deserves a childhood full of magic, wonder and joy! To get involved, please visit Make-A-Wish® Wisconsin, email me here or call our office at 929.993.9994.

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We thank these donors with funds from within the Community Foundation supporting Make-A-Wish Wisconsin this past year:
Appleton Rotary Foundation Helen Thom Roemer Fund
Bob and Pat Endries Charitable Fund (Brillion Make-A-Wish kids)
Clintonville Community Fund
Keith and Kathleen Depies Family Fund
Sid Fielkow and Cookie Fielkow Family Fund
FV Charity Choice Fund
Bill and Ann Guyon Charitable Fund
Gerald A. and Margaret L. Henseler Family Fund
Jewelers Mutual Charitable Giving Fund
Pat and Paul Meier Family Charitable Fund
Clare and Ralph Rudolph Charitable Fund
SECURA Insurance Companies Charitable Fund
Elaine A. Ven Rooy and Donald Ristau Fund
Judy and Tom Verhagen Family Fund

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