Wow! I am still trying to wrap my head around what happened on Friday.  Our Have A Heart Wish-A-Thon for Make A Wish was an overwhelming success, with over $220,000 raised for the Make A Wish Foundation.  That’s enough to grant 44 wishes to children living right here in Fox Country who are battling a life threatening medical condition.

To be completely honest, I was nervous about our fundraiser. I mean, we’ve have had a rough few weeks with the ice storm wreaking havoc all over Northeast Arkansas. But from the moment we went on the air Friday morning, something magical happened. The phones starting to ring and never stopped. The roadblocks that were set up all over Fox Country were also success stories waiting to be told. This is the greatest community to live in. Thank you for believing!

Over 150 volunteers sat aside 13 plus hours to make this one day event an amazing one. There were Make A Wish volunteers, fireman, policemen, mayors, city workers, fraternities, sororities and school groups, restaurants and business owners all working  with our staff at Triple FM and KAIT ….. to make wishes come true!

My favorite part of the Wish-A-Thon is getting to see the wish kids whom we’ve gotten to know over the years. Seeing how they’ve grown from the past year is always a treat, and hearing their stories of their wish experience is awesome. These kids can describe their wish like it occured the day before. The memories are still crystal clear, even if it happened several years ago. 

There were a lot of new kids you got to meet this year, kids I hope to have back next year; like J.R. Jones of Walnut Ridge, who you heard get his wish granted to go to Disneyworld granted. How cool was that?  

Yes, I cried… as I always do…. ( surely you’re all used to it now)   I cried when I got an email from little Barrett who told me he wouldn’t get to be at this years event because he was sick and was going to have to have another heart surgery.  (sad tears) I cried when Madison burst into tears as she recalled  her wish experience while being joined in the studio by the same students from Marmaduke who raised the money to grant her wish. ( happy tears) I cried when Dena came in and talked about her friend Audrey who passed away after getting her wish to go to Disneyworld. ( sad tears/happy tears) Sad because Audrey is no longer with us, but happy beause her beautiful memory lives on through her friend Dena who comes every year to read Audrey’s poem.

There were happy tears when Austin came in this year and was strong enough to climb up on the counter in the Fox Hole for his interview this year, rather than having to be held and wear a mask to protect him from germs after another round of chemo.

There were sad tears when I read pledges in memory of Chris, Emily, and Dakota who have gone to Heaven way before their time and tears yet again when I read pledges in memory of my mom whom I lost last September. To those of you who did that… thank you. What a wonderful tribute to her. She always loved my work with Make A Wish; she would always ask about new wishes I’d worked on. She loved Make A Wish because she knew what it had done for my life.  She knew that I felt it was a God given gift to be able to raise money and be a wish granter too.

I can’t tell you how full my heart is right now, just saying the words….over $220,000 raised in 13 hours… enough to grant wishes of 44 kids living right here in Fox Country….. it’s a testimony to the love, determination, and unity of this community.  Thank you for sharing the Power Of A Wish!