This is the first nonprofit board I've had the pleasure to serve on and I could not have been more fortunate. I'm so impressed with how professionally everything is. Given that this is a huge learning experience for me (I come from a technology background), I've been blown away by the board's organization, professionalism, commitment, and dedication. There are a wide variety of members from many different types of professions, all of whom bring an intense amount of passion to their volunteer service every time we meet.
And then of course there's the mission of Make-A-Wish overall. The joy brought to the children who receive wishes is so heartwarming. We have a wish inspiration story at the start of every board meeting and it just puts a smile on your face, brings tears to your eyes or both.
As to the employees of this chapter, they are professional and long tenured. They love their work and the people they work with. And the annual fundraising gala/auction is a very well done event. Every year I've invited people, they're always so impressed with how fun the event is, the scale, the items to bid on and the stories told throughout the night.
I'm one lucky human to have been able to serve on the board.
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- EIN 91-1329433
- 206.623.5300
- 811 First Avenue, Suite 620 Seattle WA 98104 USA
- http://www.wish.org/akwa
- Facebook page
- makeawishakwa
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Children & Youth, Children & Youth Services, Health, Patient & Family Support, Public & Societal Benefit
Mission: It's our vision to grant a wish to every eligible child, but we can't do this important work alone. We need the help and support of our medical referral community to refer eligible children, we need volunteers to meet with wish children and their families to guide them and assist in the wish-granting process (from ideation to implementation and execution), and we need the help and support of our donors to fund our program. For 35 years, Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington has granted wishes to children with critical illnesses. This year, we aim to grant nearly 300 wishes, but this largely depends upon Covid and its impacts. With a vulnerable population, many of our wishes were put on hold due to Covid concerns. Historically, 80% of the wishes we grant involve airline travel and large group gatherings and these activities could not take place due to local and state restrictions. While these wishes were put on hold, these children remained part of our program so our staff needed to keep them engaged while they were waiting. For those wishes we were able to grant, we saw an average wish cost increase by about 25% due to demand and supply chain issues. Additionally, we need a large volunteer base trained and ready to grant the wishes currently in progress and be ready to grant the wishes of those children who have been waiting once Covid-imposed restrictions are lifted.
Target demographics: create life-changing wish experiences for children with critical illnesses
Geographic areas served: Alaska and Washington
Programs: wish-granting!