The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy”.
Junior Nikos Theoharis was diagnosed with cancer when he was two years old. Three months after he was claimed cancer free, he was granted his wish to go to Disney World.
“I chose Disney World like any other kid would. I stayed at a resort that was only a couple miles away from Disney. They got me a ‘fast pass’, which I could go in front of anyone and get on the ride first. I also got to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse,” Theoharis said.
Including Theoharis’ wish, Make-A-Wish has nationally granted over 285,000 wishes and 105 of those were granted in 2017 in Nebraska alone.
Every year, the Nebraska Association of Student Councils (NASC) addresses their state charity. Since 1989, eight districts among that association have dedicated a majority of their fundraising to Make-A-Wish.
At the NASC State Convention, individual councils are awarded based on the amount of money raised for this organization.
For a number of years, Hastings High has raised around $1,000 for Make-A-Wish and this year, the goal is the same.
“Our school does a number of things for Make-A-Wish. We raffle off the best spots in the parking lot and have the proceeds of that go to the foundation. We are also planning a bake sale in the upcoming months to make some money, but the biggest portion of money we get is from the dance that we normally have,” junior Alex Swoboda said.
Student Council sponsors an annual dance every spring to raise money and awareness for our cause. However, this year there is controversy concerning the continuation of the Make-A-Wish dance. This concern results from the lack of student participation in previous years.
“Without the Make-A-Wish dance, we will have to get creative when thinking of an alternative source of money. We are all aware of the chance of not having a dance and at this point don’t know an alternative so we are all hoping we can still have it,” Swoboda said.
Each wish costs about $10,000 and in the United States, a wish is granted every 34 minutes.
“I thought it was great how the money we raised [at the school] went towards that company. I loved what they did for me and my family,” Theoharis said.
If our school continues to raise $1,000 a year, that puts us even closer to granting a wish on our own as a school. We can only achieve this by continuing to donate and fundraise.
“Everyone enjoys the Make-A-Wish dance. It is for a truly great cause and everyone looks forward to it every year. The raffle has helped us out as well, but the dance takes the cake in terms of our fundraising efforts,” junior Chyna Delker said.
