April 2024 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER

During the month of April, known as World Wish Month, “WishMakers”acrossthecommunityhelpedbringtolifewishes foreligiblechildrenacrossourchapter

“WishMaker”isatermforanyonewhotakesactionforwishkids

Much like the very first wish granted on April 29, 1980, the anniversary of 7-year-old Chris Grecius’ wish to be a police officer, wishes have the power to bring entire communities togethertorallyaroundachildinneed.

Corporate Partners NOV, Valero, and Shell were some of the many“WishMakers”whocelebratedtheimpactofawishforwish kids across our territory during the month of April FriendsFor Wishes also hosted its third annual Fishing for Wishes Tournament, hosting nine wish families and raising money to support our chapter! In this month’s newsletter, we highlight several “WishMakers” who celebrated World Wish Month alongsideus

“WishMakersareessentialtogivingachildapieceof “WishMakersareessentialtogivingachildapieceof their childhood back. Our “WishMakers” are truly their childhood back. Our “WishMakers” are truly ffocusedonbringingasmuchhopeandjoytowishkids ocusedonbringingasmuchhopeandjoytowishkids everyday,butthispastmonth,wereallysawthetrue everyday,butthispastmonth,wereallysawthetrue powerofawish,”saidShellyMillwee,President&CEO powerofawish,”saidShellyMillwee,President&CEO ofMake-A-WishTexasGulfCoastandLouisiana. ofMake-A-WishTexasGulfCoastandLouisiana.

Chris Grecius April 29, 1980

“The First Wish”

“I wish to “I wish to be a police be a police officer” officer” Chris, 7 Chris, lleukemia eukemia

“I wish to go “I wish to to New York to New York City” City” Joanna, 4 Joanna, 4 cystic fibrosis cystic fibrosis

WishKid,Joannahasabigimagination.Forthepastyear,shehas beenregalingherparentswiththeexcitingadventuressheandher imaginaryfriends,“TheWuz,”and“TheShoom,”havebeentaking.

“The Wuz,” as Joanna has described, has black fur and is a goat/cowmixthateatsgrass.“TheShoom,”issmallerandisamix between a cat and a vacuum cleaner. Sometimes, “The Shoom,” eatsgrassandothertimesshesaysitsucksupoldtissueswithhis vacuummouth.

Joanna’simaginaryfriendsareoriginallyfromCentralParkinNew YorkCity.Joannahasexcitedlybeendreamingofthedayshecan visitTheBigApple.Ananimallover,Joannainitiallylearnedabout NewYorkthroughoneofherfavoritebooks,Curious Georgeand throughtheanimalsandplotoftheDisneymovie,Madagascar WiththehelpofourchapterinMetroNewYork,Budsies(acompany thatallowsyoutodesignyourownplushies),andalittlehelpfrom artificialintelligence,Joannawassurprisedtomeetherimaginary friendsforthefirsttime,intheirfavoritespot:CentralPark! IImaginaryFriendsSurpriseWishKidJoanna maginaryFriendsSurpriseWishKidJoanna DuringNewYorkCityAdventure DuringNewYorkCityAdventure

Concept art of “The Wuz,” and “The Shoom”

I WISH TO GO TO.... I WISH TO GO TO....

“I wish to go “I wish to go to Disney to Disney World” World”

Stella, 5 Stella, 5 cancer cancer

“ValerochoosestobeaWishMaker “ValerochoosestobeaWishMaker becauseweunderstandhow becauseweunderstandhow iimportantthesewishesaretoour mportantthesewishesaretoour WishKids.Thesechildrenmakean WishKids.Thesechildrenmakean iimpactwiththejoytheybringto mpactwiththejoytheybringto eachrefinerythroughthingslikewish eachrefinerythroughthingslikewish celebrations.Wecouldn’tbehappier celebrations.Wecouldn’tbehappier ttocontinuesupportingMake-AocontinuesupportingMake-AWish,”saidSaraMontelongoWish,”saidSaraMontelongoOyervidezfromValeroEnergy OyervidezfromValeroEnergy Houston. Houston.

“I wish to go “I wish to go to Disney to Disney World” World” Finn, 7 Finn, 7 cancer cancer

Finnisa7-year-oldboyfromLafayette,LAwhoisbattlingcancer.Hehasremainedstrongand resilient,withatruefightermentalitythroughouthistreatments.

Thiskind-heartedboywishedtogotoDisneyWorldwherehecouldhaveanopportunitytomeet alloftheDisneyclassiccharacters(MickeyandtheGang!)andChewbacca! Finnwasalsothrilled toexploretheparks,especiallyAnimalKingdom,ridetherollercoasters,andseefireworksover Cinderella’scastle.

“HalliburtonisdelightedtohelpmakeFinn’swishtovisittheDisneythemeparkscometrue,”said Lisa Modica, Vice President of Global Labor and Employment Law and President of the HalliburtonCharitableFoundation.“Finnandhisfamilyareexperiencingadifficulttimeandthisis onesimplewaywecansupportthefamilyandhelpmakethemmeaningfulmemoriesthrough theMake-A-WishFoundation.”

First-timeWishMaker First-timeWishMaker CaldwellCompaniesSendsHayden CaldwellCompaniesSendsHayden ttoSt.Thomas! oSt.Thomas!

Seven-year-old Hayden loves to be active and have fun. Hayden’s wish to go to St Thomas was a dream come true thanks to WishMaker Caldwell Companies. Hayden loves the beach and has always wanted to swim with dolphins and stingrays. Hayden was thrilled to get a chance to hop on a boat at Towne Lake in Cypress, TX where he was transported to his tropicalthemedcelebration.

“We are so blessed and thankful to support Make-A-Wish and give a trip to Hayden and his family. It’s such a blessing to us. The reason we wanted to do this is we have a goal at our company to make life better for all the people we get to do life with,andcertainlythatappliestoHaydenandhisfamily,andall the kids at Make-A-Wish,” said Fred Caldwell, President and CEOofCaldwellCompanies.

“I wish to go “I wish to go to St to St. Thomas” Thomas” Hayden, 7 Hayden, 7 lleukemia eukemia

I WISH TO GIVE...

WishKidDeniisa9-year-oldgirlwholovesspendingtimewithherfamilyandhasahugepassionfor animals SheiscurrentlyundergoingtreatmentforabraintumoratthemedicalcenterinHouston Due to her treatment, her family is staying at the Ronald McDonald House and were unable to bring their petswiththem Deni'swishistohaveahomeawayfromhomeforpetsofchildrenreceivingtreatment, justliketheRonaldMcDonaldhouseisforfamilies Sincepetsarenottypicallyallowedinthehospitals, shewantsthepetdaycaretobeclosetothehospital,sothatkidscanstillvisittheirpetswhilereceiving treatment.

ThankstoWishMakersPennySievers,FriendsforWishes,andRoverOaks,Denigottheopportunityto seeherwishcometrue.DenireceivedapersonalfacilitytouratRoverOaks.Butthebiggestsurpriseof thedaywastheannouncementthatRoverOaksisrenovatingtheirindividualsuitesforpetboarding!To commemorate and honor Deni and her wish, Rover Oaks is naming the first suite after Deni and decoratingthesuitewithherphotoandpersonallogoshedesignedherself.

“Wow!Ididn’texpectallthis.Ithoughtwewerejustplayingwithdogsfor awhileandgoinghome!,”saidDeniduringherwishcelebration.

“I wish to give a “I wish to give a pet daycare for pet daycare for kids receiving kids receiving ttreatment” reatment” Deni, 9 Deni, 9 brain tumor brain tumor

I WISH TO GO...

Kassidyisasmart15-year-oldwithadynamic personality!Sheiswellspoken,confident,and enjoys painting, photography, writing, and gamedesign.

Kassidy has a bright future ahead, and she currently has her heart set on becoming a marine biologist, recently joining the marine biologist club at her school! When Kassidy learned she would have her one true wish grantedbyMake-A-WishTexasGulfCoastand Louisiana, she chose to take a trip with her momtoSt.Thomas.

Thanks to WishMaker Shell, Kassidy got a surprise wish celebration. While in St. Thomas, Kassidy hopes to see as much marine life as possible through snorkeling and swimming with turtles! She photostocombineherpassionsofphotographyandmarinebiology yheranunderwatercameraaheadoftheirtrip ThiswillbeKassidy’s dsheislookingforwardtosomespecialmother/daughtertime

“I wish to go to “I wish to go to Alaska ”Alaska.”

Ander, 17 Ander, 17 cancer cancer

WELCOME HOME ANDER!

Thanks to WishMaker NOV, Ander received a warm welcome home celebration! Ander recently returned from his dream wish trip to Alaska where he got to enjoy some much-needed family time. The oldest of four boys, Ander and his family is very tight knit and enjoys spending time together. During Ander’s wish interview, he shared his cancer has taken away so much family time; between treatmentsandhospitalstaysrangingfromseveraldaysto weeks at a time When thinking of his wish, Ander felt a trip to Alaska would be such a special way to make new memories, explore a new environment, and spend quality timewithhisfamily

Ander’sdadshared,“wehadanabsoluteblastonthistrip. It’s something we will never forget. More than that, this whole experience of him getting diagnosed and treatment...it’s a hard process. But now when we think back about this process, one of the things that we are going to think about first is this trip and that recontextualizes the whole experience. It makes it not quite as bad. It’s incredible what you guys have done for us.Idon’tthinkIcansaythankyouenough.”

“I wish to go to “I wish to go to St Thomas ” St. Thomas.” Kassidy, 15 Kassidy, 15 cystic fibrosis cystic fibrosis

EPISCOPALHIGHSCHOOLLAUNCHESKIDSFORWISHKIDS EPISCOPALHIGHSCHOOLLAUNCHESKIDSFORWISHKIDS ENCOURAGINGSTUDENTSTOGIVEBACK ENCOURAGINGSTUDENTSTOGIVEBACK

Episcopal High School launched Kids for Wish Kids, a fundraising program encouraging students to give back During their Dude Be Kind Week, they encouraged their classmates to spread kindness and give moneytomakewishescometrue Throughstarsales,apickleballtournamentandabakesale, EpiscopalHighSchoolStudentCouncilraisedover$4,000 in support of our mission If you ' re interested in learning more about getting your school involved in our Kids For Wish Kids to MadisonMontgomeryatmmontgomery@texgulfwishorg

LEARNINGEXPERIENCERAISES$50,000 LEARNINGEXPERIENCERAISES$50,000

From April 1-April 31, eighteen of The Learning Experience locations in our territory raised money to support Make-A-Wish through their Lets Grant Wishes campaign. Collectively, the leadership, the families and thelittlelearnersraisedover$50,000tomakewishescometruethrough i t f diff t f draising events. This is the third year of this gratefulfortheirongoingsupportofourwish

WHOLE FOODS WISH BOOST

On April 2, WishMaker Whole Foods in Metairie, LA hosted a shopping spree for Wish Kids Mohammad, 10, leukemia, and Brandon, “BJ”, 7, congenital heart disease. BJ and Mohammad started the morning off with a fun scavenger hunt throughout the Whole Foods store Along the way, they met friendly staff, collected items from different departments and got to be a cashier and check out their groceries They also enjoyed decorating cupcakes, rolling meatballs, and making their own pizza! Everyone had a blast and left with plenty of treats. The staff at Whole Foodslooksforwardtohostingmoreeventslikethisinthefuture.

“This was our first event together, and I hope it won’t be our last. The kids have left a lasting impression on everyone who interacted with them. Thank you so much for this partnership!” said Nkenge Graham, Store TrainerforWholeFoodsMetairie.

The2024WishBall|AmongtheStarswasheldonMay3,2024atthePostOakHotel.

Theinauguralblack-tieevent,chairedbyBradandClaudiaFreels,andCarlyandJohnWhitehurst, welcomedover750guestsandraisedabreathtaking $1.7millionforthemissionofMake-A-WishTexasGulfCoastandLouisiana.

StaytunedforafulleventrecapintheMaynewslettertobereleasedinearlyJune.