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Students make girl's dream reality
Walking through Atwood this past week, you probably caught a glimpse of American Marketing Association (AMA) donating their time to a good cause.
Their mission: to grant a wish for a girl whose dream is to conquer the Mall of America.
In just a few days, 12-year-old Ashley (last name not given because of protection rights) from St. Cloud will have her wish granted by the Minnesota Make-A-Wish Foundation to go and shop for a full day at the Mall of America.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation (MAWF) is a charity organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. It was founded in 1980 by a little boy named Chris Greicius, whose heartfelt wish was to become a police officer. Since the founding, the organization has blossomed reaching more than 97,000 children worldwide.
The MAWF Minnesota chapter was founded in 1982 and has granted over 1,900 wishes. Its annual budget is $1.6 million and the chapter says that its most popular wish among children is to go to Disney World.
Each year, the chapter grants over 190 wishes for children who are between the ages of 2-and-a-half and 18-years-old with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Children hear about MAWF from families, hospitals, social workers or refer themselves to have their wish come true.
"The Mall of America wish is more popular for kids out of state than in state," said Gretchen Helmer, director of program services for the MAWF Minnesota chapter. "Last year, we granted about six wishes for children who wanted to visit the mall."
Because Ashley is from St. Cloud, she will be put up at the Double Tree Hotel for one night. She will then shop for one full day with the $1,500 in Mall of America gift cards the foundation has given her (as well as the money raised by SCSU AMA students) to spend on her shopping spree. She is also given passes to Camp Snoopy and other expense money to cover food expenses.
"Ashley told our Make-A-Wish Foundation volunteers in an interview that she is excited to buy games for her X-Box and for CD's," Helmer said. "She also just wanted to spend some time with her mom."
"(AMA) needed to find a new foundation to represent," said senior Elizabeth Madsen, charity co-chair for AMA and marketing major. "So we looked on the Internet and we found that the Make-A-Wish Foundation appealed to us the most because we would be directly helping someone."
In addition, AMA has been keeping track of how much money it has raised and who donated it by writing donors' names on paper clouds to commemorate the donors.
"The clouds are a way to help raise money through the wish," said Cristin Kortan, charity co-chair, senior and community health major. "We (AMA) keep the clouds and display them on a board that shows how much money a person donated."
So far, the AMA has sold $365 in clouds. This is not including the $300 from McRudy's Bar and a personal donation of $100 from an anonymous person.
"The Make-A-Wish Foundation sets a goal for us to raise about $1900, but we (AMA) set a goal of $2000," Kortan said.
AMA will also be having a "Grab a Friend for a Night of Fun" at Granite City Bowl South on Sunday, Feb. 2, 7-9 p.m.
Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased at the door or through AMA at [email protected]. Prizes to be given away include gift certificates to Scheels Sports, Timberlodge Steakhouse, Chipotle, Grizzly's Bar and Grill and D.B. Searle's.
AMA will also be taking donations a week and a half after the event.
"We like knowing that our money is going to a good cause for a little girl who wants her wish granted," Madsen and Kortan said.
For more information on the Make-A-Wish Foundation Minnesota Chapter, go to www.wishmn.org.
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