In the past 6 months I have been doing some volunteer work for an organization that is near and dear to my heart. This month, I have decided to dedicate my blog to this organization. I am hoping to bring awareness and perhaps encourage one or two of my readers to join me as a volunteer with the Make a Wish foundation. I have been working with the Make a Wish foundation as a fundraiser for some time now, but I found that it did not fulfill my desire to directly help the kids. Of course, without the funds, we can't make the wishes come true, but I wanted a more hands on opportunity to get involved. As a volunteer, I meet with my assigned wish kid, and help figure out what they would want their wish to be. So far, most of my wish kids have been teens and they all seem to choose a shopping spree. The foundation provides the children with a designated amount of cash (based on their age), we pick up the child in a limo and take them shopping and then to lunch. I can tell you that I have never had so much fun spending money and not buying myself a single thing. I use my sales skills to pre-negotiate discounts with the stores, so the wish child's money will go a bit further and in some cases we have been able to get some free items thrown in! Best of all, the wish child is treated like King or Queen for the day.
I am not sure that I can possibly convey how good it feels to bring such joy to these children's lives. I might get more out of it than the wish child!
If you are interested in volunteering,visit http://www.wishla.org/how-get-involved, and fill out a volunteer application. You will be invited to a training session and then you are ready to start granting some wishes! By the way, there is an overwhelming need for Spanish speaking volunteers to help explain documents and meet with the parents of the children. We visit the child in volunteer pairs, so you always have a partner by your side throughout the process. If you have questions, or want to know more, please feel free to contact me directly at 310-963-7384.
