It’s a stormy day outside but inside it’s sunny and I’m happy. Why, you may ask. This week I received a contribution from the VFW to support our HERO of the Month program at Janet Weis Hospital in Danville, PA. Thanks a bunch, VFW.

We have this program in hospitals across the country. If you or someone you know would like to support the HERO program, visit our website and complete the form under “Ways to Help”. While you’re there check out our other programs and our Wish Kids.

Donna Blackwell

Take a look at our Wish Kids.  When you see their pictures and read their stories you’ll understand why I get so much pleasure out of helping to fulfill their wishes.

Recently, I called a gentleman and told him about Samantha.  Without hesitation he said yes, he wanted to help.  He donated enough to cover almost half of Samantha’s wish.  Needless to say, he made my day.  WOOOOHOOOO! Thanks, Kelly.

It’s a huge jigsaw puzzle. Each one of us is a piece of it, some how we all connect in a special and unique way. I think we all have a special way of bringing “The Big Picture” together. Today we had an awesome Team Building Workshop. I know Ellen, our instructor, said the Leader personality can see above everyone and view “The Big Picture”. But it is “All of us” who, piece by piece, bring it all together and make it happen.

Our Leader personalities direct us with direction and great expectations; our Task personalities guide us and keep us in line and on time; our People personalities embrace us, making everything flow smoothly and peacefully; our Free Spirit personalities take the vision and everything else and run with it, adding a little more spunk and creativity to the “Whole Big Picture”.

So together, in a whole, we are all uniquely designed, cut out and perfectly created to fit together in our special “Big Picture” – For the Kids!

Thank you, Ellen, for brining out the good, bad and the ugly… But most of all for making us all aware of the different personalities that create the Master Piece here at the “Kids Wish Network.” Check her out at www.focusbydesign.com

The recent seminar was very enlightening! After each employee took the test to figure out what kind of a person they were, it proved to be right.  In each outcome you could see that they fit with each personality.  It was fun and exciting to learn about the different ways your co-workers reflect on situations and how they problem solve! 

-Vanessa

We were recently treated here at Kids Wish to a super fun team building seminar. Not only did we all have a really great time during the session, we also learned a lot about ourselves and our co-workers. The goal of these seminars is to really ramp up a feeling of cohesiveness and connectivity in the workplace which in turn, makes for a more productive work environment!

This particular seminar uses a system called Peoplemapping. We all filled out a questionnaire that consisted of seven questions. Once it is completed, you can see what personality type you fall into. There are four categories: Leader, Task, Free Spirit and People. It was really interesting, not only to see where you fall in yourself, but also where everyone you work with falls in.

The seminar was led by Ellen Schuster-Nastir, M.Ed., CPCC, Professional Certified Coach, Trainer & Speaker. She was absolutely terrific! I would definitely recommend businesses and organizations that are interested in enhancing their operations and inter office relationships to check out this program!

Some stats on Peoplemapping:

Over 140,000 people have taken the Peoplemap and it has proven to be an invaluable tool in many fields in addition to corporate businesses, such as: healthcare, engineering, a variety of professional service offices, city and county governments, educational settings, non-profit organizations, Board of Directors, etc.

If you want to learn more about Ellen and her coaching services, check out her website at: www.focusbydesign.com Also, for more information on the Peoplemap System, please visit: www.peoplemap.org

I learned so much at our team buliding seminar.  Seeing how we are all different but yet work so well together.  I think that we all had a great time!!  Thanks Ellen

Did you catch Gene Simmons Family Jewels on A & E last night?  They showed part of a wish that Gene Simmons of KISS fame and his family did for one of our wish kids.  It was a great wish and Mr Simmons was so friendly and generous.  He even gave the family 2 autographed KISS gold records!  You can check out the webisode here 

Madeline Robinson

Wow, that team building seminar this morning really enlightened me!!

Last fall I began working on a wish for an eleven year old young man named Thomas.  Thomas is from Tennessee and he has cerebral palsy.  Thomas cannot enjoy many of the things that other kids his age can.  He is totally wheelchair bound.  His wish was for a swing so that he would be able to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. 

I immediately contacted Charvet from Jensen Swing Products in California.  They have a product called a JennSwing which is made especially for special needs children.  She was more than willing to donate the swing and immediately shipped it to Thomas’ house.

I then contacted Kathy Nolan with Backyardcity.com and she also was excited to donate the frame for the JennSwing.

I just recently recieved pictures of Thomas enjoying his swing and could not wait to post them to the site and let everyone know how happy he is.  Thank you Charvet and Kathy, without you this would not have been possible!!

Hi!

Check it out – we’re on the news.  We just did a wish for a little girl named Carly who wanted only one thing – a swimming pool to splash around in.  Watch the pool being installed click on this link – Carly gets her pool

WWE superstar, John Cena, has a heart of gold and has always been terrific with our kids.  Little Jeremy recently met his favorite wrestler in San Antonio, TX.  Not only did the WWE arrange for Jeremy to meet Cena but he also got to meet about 8 other wrestlers.  Jeremy gave Cena a homemade shirt which read “John Cena is my Idol.”  As soon as Jeremy handed it to him Cena put the shirt on – the excitement in Jeremy’s face was priceless!  And this was not the first wish Cena granted for Kids Wish this year.  Kudos to you, John Cena! Our wish kids love you!

Wow!  Annabelle and her family had an AMAZING time on their trip to Disney!  Dealing with a child’s illness can be tough but even tougher for parents when they are both hearing impaired.  Communication with Annabelle’s mom through E-mail made things very easy.  The family was awesome and it was a pleasure working with them to make Annabelle’s dream come true!!!!

I would like to take a moment and Thank all of the hospitals that participate in our Hero of the Month program here at Kids Wish Network.  Without you our program would not have succeeded and grown as much as it has.  If you are a hospital or facility that would like to join our program, please contact me either by email at crystal@kidswishnetwork.org or at 727-937-3600.

My first week at Kids Wish Network was amazing! I have great co-workers and an awesome supervisor. I’m working in the Development Department and it’s wonderful helping to raise money for all of our kids!

When I was given my first five wish kids, I was so excited. They all became my children, now I have 12, and I want more! 

Right now I am focusing on Sara, She is from Michigan. She is 13 and struggles daily with an extremely serious systematic condition called anaphylaxis. Her one wish is to go to Disneyland. We are going to make that happen!

That’s where I come in. I begin calling all the local businesses in Sarah’s community for donations. 

Every time I make a call for my children I am proud of what I am doing, everything comes from my heart.

I look forward to coming to work everyday. My children count on me so I have to give 110%.

Through donations, everyone can make a wish come true through Kids Wish Network!

Sheila

Coming on board here at Kids Wish Network seemed like Rocky Road ice cream…. I say that because it was rocky, nutty, mushy yet so rich and sweet… It’s a sweet treat to be able to be a part of something so delightful and real. I have had the pleasure to take on a few wishes that have been touching and dear to my heart…

Starting off and still now I get all tongue tied on the phone – I guess that’s what you call ROCKY! I fumble through my calls making who knows how many mistakes. But in a sense it shows the reality of who I am: human. Trisha was the first wish kid I started doing follow ups on and it was fun calling all these different organizations, churches and clubs in Westfield, WI. I guess Wisconsin doesn’t only have great cheese, they also have great people with great big hearts… They were the first group of people I reached out to! Thank you WISCONSIN YOU ROCK!!!

 A special thanks to the following:

Megan & Chris, Faith United Methodist Church, Apollo Tool Inc., First Presbyterian Church, and M&I Bank Employees.

I know there are more but these are the ones who I contacted and they said they would help and they followed through…

Now the nutty part of this whole deal is me…So stay tuned for my next NUTTY scoop…

Ruthie