Make-A-Wish Volunteers Make The Difference

Make-A-Wish makes an important impact on the lives of children with a life-threatening illness, however it’s the staff and volunteers that make a difference in the lives of the children.

Kim Conrad is the Regional Vice Chair for Northern Nevada and has been a volunteer for ten years.

Conrad was looking for an organization to volunteer for and found Make-A-Wish. She stayed with Make-A-Wish because she believes in the cause, said Conrad.

“The money fundraised in Northern Nevada stays in Northern Nevada,” Conrad said. This means that the money Northern Nevada fundraises goes to sick children in Northern Nevada.

Conrad gets to see and talk to the kids and families that receive wishes at Make-A-Wish events in Reno.

“Talking to the kids is amazing. Sometimes the family needs to have a normal vacation because they go through so much,” said Conrad.

A wish helps more than the child, it gives the families a break from constant worry, said Conrad. The kids have amazing wishes.

Michelle Flynn, who is the Director of Communications and Outreach in the Northeastern and Northern Nevada chapter, said that 52 percent of wishes are traveling to Disneyland. Conrad said that they all want to go to Disney for different reasons.

“A boy may want to go because he loves Mickey. A girl may want to go because she loves Rapunzel’s hair because she lost her own in chemo,” said Conrad.

Wishes range from wanting to be a train conductor for a day to giving a donation to a charity. Whatever the wish is, Make-A-Wish makes it happen, said Conrad.

It’s the volunteers who make the wishes happen. Conrad said, that it’s a community. A volunteer can be a teacher, a neighbor, or someone at the grocery store.

Working at Make-A-Wish is really rewarding, Conrad continues. The volunteers are giving back to families. They see the families in their darkest times and it keeps the volunteers centered or grounded.

“It makes me think, what if my child got sick tomorrow and I needed help. If I can help them then maybe if I needed it someone can help me,” Conrad said.

Nichoel Menicucci, the Volunteer Manager for this chapter, said that there are several different kinds of volunteers. These types include special event volunteers, community ambassadors, and creative volunteers just to name a few.

But what makes the “heart and soul” of Make-A-Wish, Menicucci said, is the Wish Granters.

Wish Granters work with the child to help grant their wish. The Granter finds out four wishes that the child has and puts them into the wishing well.

The Wish Granter usually knows which wish the child wants most, Menicucci said, but this way it’s more of a surprise when the child receives their wish. Having four different options keeps the child guessing and gives them something to look forward to, said Flynn.

Volunteers find out about Make-A-Wish through internship fairs, online, social media, or especially word of mouth and they go to sign up, said Menicucci.

Once a volunteer signs up they have a phone interview with Menicucci to find out what position this volunteer will have in the organization. After the interview, the volunteer receives training and goes through an orientation.

Make-A-Wish runs background checks every three years to volunteers that interact with the sick children.

A volunteer can stay with the organization anywhere from 20 days to 20 years, said Menicucci.

Receiving a wish from Make-A-Wish helps the child in several ways said the research Make-A-Wish has conducted.

According to Michelle Flynn and Make-A-Wish Northeastern California and Northern Nevada chapter research on its website, 89 percent of children’s wishes had a positive physical impact on the child.

Positive emotional impact on a child is as high as 93 percent. And 81 percent of children are more likely to comply with treatment since they have something great to look forward to.

Medical advisors provide 60 percent of the referrals of a child to Make-A-Wish. Families and the children themselves provide 40 percent of the referrals.

One common misconception about Make-A-Wish, Flynn continues, is that they only give wishes to children with terminal illnesses. Children with any life threatening illness can receive a wish and 75 percent of those children survive their illness.

Northeastern California and Northern Nevada chapter of Make-A-Wish, according to Flynn and the Make-A-Wish research, is composed of more than 300 volunteers.

Make-A-Wish is always looking for more, especially in smaller populations of this chapter. Anyone can become a volunteer by filling out an application here.

Make-A-Wish constantly has events to help grant wishes for a child. One event that has already passed to help Make-A-Wish is the Big Day of Giving on May 3. This is a 24-hour online event to support 570 local nonprofits, including Make-A-Wish. Their goal for this year is to raise $6 million from 30,000 donors.

Northern Nevada teens are making a difference too. The Youth Leadership Committee is conducting a t-shirt campaign where you can buy a t-shirt to help grant a wish to a child in Northeastern California and Northern Nevada. This campaign is live through May 16, 2016.