Quincy Reporter

Be the hero. Become a Make-A-Wish volunteer

If you have ever wondered how you can have a hand in creating life-changing wish experiences for children, here is your answer and now is the time to get involved. Make-A-Wish Illinois needs volunteers in Adams County to help grant wishes for several recently qualified children.

Supported by dedicated volunteers and generous community members, Make-A-Wish Illinois seeks to grant a wish to every child with an eligible medical condition. Wishes are shown to give children a true boost in reducing hospitalizations, length of stay, compliance with treatment protocols and enhancing their overall resilience and mental health at a difficult time.

Wish granters work with critically ill children throughout their wish journey to help discover, plan and support the creation of their wish. More than 200 eligible children in Illinois are waiting today for volunteers to help grant their wishes.

Make-A-Wish volunteers consider their work impactful and meaningful. And their efforts are rewarded—not in dollars or cents, but in the incredible difference that they make in the lives of wish kids.

Cathy Brogdon, accreditation coordinator, Blessing Cancer Center, and her husband Dave have been experiencing the reward of being Make-A-Wish volunteers for 14 years, after their son received his wish from the organization.

“Mitch had such a wonderful wish experience we got involved to pay it forward for other children who qualify for a wish,” Cathy said. “Putting a smile on a child’s face and giving them that moment where they are only thinking happy thoughts is priceless.”

Cathy says a volunteer’s time commitment is small compared to the result their effort will deliver.

“Typically, it takes a couple hours to start a wish. Then, an hour or so monthly while working on the wish, and maybe a couple hours to grant a wish,” she concluded. “The amount of time spent is very small in comparison to the joy you help provide a wish child.”

All Make-A-Wish volunteers must be over 18; complete an application, reference, and background check; and attend a brief online training to begin granting wishes. For more information, contact talent@illinois.wish.org.

Original source can be found here