This year I shared Thanksgiving with some friends of family members. Some of my family was talking about what my job is at Kids Wish Network and then the questions started. What do you do there? Isn’t it hard work? Doesn’t it break your heart to hear and see all the children who are so sick? So, even though I was sick myself, I took pride in answering all of the questions. It was so cool to see how interested everyone was in what I do.

What happened next is one of the many reasons I do what I do; I got to tell everyone WHY I work at Kids Wish Network. It’s such a wonderful and rewarding feeling to fund wishes for these very special children, I told them. It’s great to give them a glimmer of happiness that they will never forget. I learn about new places and towns I otherwise never would have heard of.

I really enjoy telling people about what I do at work all day: helping to make wishes come true for hundreds of children.

How many people in this world can say that?

Megan
Development Department

I’ve blogged on this before, but I really like receiving all the surveys from Wish Kids, Hero Kids and Gift Bank recipients. There are always such exclamations of joy and surprise and well, just wonderful things about what these kids and facilities have received. The parents of Wish Kids love to talk about the smiles on the faces of their children as their wishes are granted; the families of the Hero Kids love to talk about how surprised their children are when they find out they’ve won the award. The facilities are just pleased all the way around with what our awesome Distribution Dept. sends them. Every survey makes my day that much better and that’s just completely wonderful. I love it.

Alicia
Editorial Department

I just wanted to wish everyone a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Vanessa
Wish Department

What does that word mean to you? One of the meanings of the word ‘Hero’ refers to “characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice.” I’m sure not many of us can call ourselves a ‘hero’.

Our wish children face life challenging situations each and every day. It is remarkable to see the overwhelming courage and will these precious ‘little people’ have.

I want to let all our wish children know how much we admire and respect what they go through. To everyone here at Kids Wish Network our wish kids are Our HEROES!

Kathleen
Office and Personnel Administrator

It’s so exciting to turn on my computer and find out that an article about one of our wish kids has been published in their local newspaper.

I came in this morning to find an article about Dasha was published and that a reporter working on another story left me an email stating that the article should run this Thursday.

Sometimes it gets frustrating waiting for an article to get published about one of our wish kids, especially when a reporter tells you it will run and you keep checking back and it never appears! But when it FINALLY does, it is a nice reward to see that your hard work pays off. Our wish kids are special and we like for their stories to get out there.

I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I do!

Elizabeth
Wish Department

I like my desk at Kids Wish Network. I sit right next to the wish coordinators, so I get to hear all the “good stuff.” I always like to hear about what the kids ask for, or what cute things they have to say. I don’t know if I could ever do the job – be a wish coordinator that is – because I think I would get too attached to the kids. But I like getting up close to the wish and hearing all about it. It always makes my day a little brighter!

Elizabeth
Wish Deptartment

Many of the wishes Kids Wish Network grants are wishes to go to Disney World. I recently returned from a trip to Disney World, and I had a wonderful time. Walking into Disney, I instantly felt like a little kid again. I can imagine now what a great time our wish kids and their families must have, getting to visit this magical place!

Melissa
Development & Donor Relations

This is just a short e-mail that I wanted to share from a wish family – post wish:

Vanessa –

Good afternoon!!

Can I tell you how excited McKenna is getting for her trip?? Oh my gosh!!! We have been talking about it every night – what rides she wants to ride, which ones are maybes and which ones are no way!!

I showed her the itinerary and she said “OH my gosh!! We are going to be sooo busy!” with the cutest look on her face!!

Thank you so much for everything!!!

Connie

Vanessa
Wish Department

One of the nicest parts of being with Kids Wish Network is the wonderful notes, letters, calls, and emails we receive from the wish kids & their parents. When their wishes have been fulfilled they are gracious enough to send us these “thank-yous” and pictures. The pictures are worth more than a thousand words and we all look forward to receiving them.

Donna
Development Department

My favorite wishes to grant are for those children to whom you offer the world, and all they want is a PETCO gift card for their dog.

Jennifer
Wish Department

So I found myself in bed for a few days last week. I was feeling pretty sick and I have to tell you that when you’re sick, there really isn’t much you can do but lay around. At the very most for minimal entertainment and a little distraction I was able to watch television. Mostly all you can really do is rest, rest, rest.

I know this sounds pretty boring and what makes it even worse is you’re not feeling well. I found my thoughts wandering many times to our wish kids. See at the end of the day I knew I was going to feel better; I was able to say, this too shall pass and I knew I would be able to have fun again.

But what about all of our wish kids who don’t have the opportunity to think like that? They have to lie in bed a lot longer than I had to and for many they never get to go outside and play or run around with their friends. Being sick really put things in perspective for me. We all complain and whine when we have the sniffles or a headache, but these children suffer with real diseases and have a much worse time of it than most of us – their illness never goes away!

So, next time you’re feeling kind of crummy, put some of our wish kids’ stories in your head and thank your lucky stars that you’ll get through it in a short period of time, then put out a good vibe for the children who are really sick, who suffer with life threatening illnesses on a daily basis.

Megan
Development Department

I love it when I work on a child’s wish and when the wish is fulfilled their family shares their pictures with all of us at KWN. It’s great to see the pictures of the wish kid and all the fun they had on their wish. It lightens my heart and brings such joy to know that I’ve helped to put that smile there. It doesn’t have to be a celebrity wish. It could be as simple as a shopping spree or a trip to Disney. Their smiles say it all! It’s one of the many reasons why all of us love to work here at Kids Wish Network. I love to spread smiles around !

Doris
Development Department

Most of our days at KWN are lots of fun. We have a great team, a wonderful mix of personalities and we all share a common goal – to make a wish come true for a child with a life-threatening illness. We have fun and we stay focused on our goal though sometimes we have little dark clouds that hang around, waiting. Today that little dark cloud not only rained on our parade, it broke our hearts. We just heard that one of our little wish girls passed away. When we work for these children and their families to make their wishes come true, we know the wish child may not survive their illness. This thought is very difficult to come to grips with, especially on a day like today.

Yes we are saddened, but at the end of the day we know we must come back tomorrow to help another child and we know we are blessed to have the opportunity to give some hope by making dreams come true for some very special kids.

Donna
Development Department

Since I started at Kids Wish Network in May, I’ve met new friends in the office and have heard so many inspiring stories from some really brave kids. Just like my fellow “development divas” say, Kids Wish Network is truly an amazing experience to be a part of.

I am the administrative assistant for the development department and I am responsible for a variety of things, but recently I was asked to help out the wish funding specialists. When they are working to fund a wish for a wish kid they need to send out that child’s information along with information on our organization to whomever they get in contact with. The “divas” make up to 100-150 calls each a day, so it’s very time consuming for them to get together a packet to send out via email, fax, or mail. That’s where I come in! It’s now up to me to make sure these packets are sent to the right people. At first I will admit that it was difficult juggling my administrative duties with my new found responsibilities, but now that I have the hang of things it’s working out pretty well.

I feel I am more involved with helping our amazing wish kids get their wishes and I feel honored that I have a bigger role in what Kids Wish Network does, and that’s to bring hope to children across the nation! Yet another bonus, I now have two very close friends: the office printer and the fax machine!!

Melissa
Development Department

Wow!

Imagine being 12-years-old and having a private audience with the President of the United States.  That is exactly what happened to Ta’Kiyah, a sweet little girl from Dover, DE.  Ta’Kiyah’s presidential wish was granted by Kids Wish Network.   

Ta’Kiyah was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor and has endured months of hospital stays, chemotherapy and doctor visits. 

Her wish started off in style as she was picked up at her home in Dover in a limousine courtesy of Camelot Limousine Service and driven to Washington D.C. where she was welcomed by the attentive staff at the 5-star Hay Adams Hotel.  She loved how the staff greeted her by name every day and the surprises that they would leave in her room each night.  She was thrilled when she learned that this was the same hotel that the Obama family stayed in prior to the inauguration.

That night she was made an “official rock star” at the Hard Rock Cafe.  She was mesmerized by all of the memorabilia and the D.J. played all of her favorite music. 

The next day was fraught with emotions.  Ta’Kiyah was nervous as she headed over to the White House.  As she waited in the Oval Office Lobby, her emotions began to get the best of her.  Finally, the time had come.  She stood, covering her eyes and trepiditiously made her way around the corner.  President Obama stood there waiting for her but Ta’Kiyah’s feet wouldn’t move!  President Obama kindly told her to uncover her eyes and approach him.  “Ta’kiyah, put your hands down, it’s going to be ok”, he coaxed.  Slowly, she approached him and he shook her hand and then warmly embraced her, telling her there was nothing to be nervous about. 

He took her into his office as Ta’Kiyah’s aunt looked on with tears in her eyes as well.  Ta’Kiyah shared her scrapbook filled with personal pictures and mementos.  President Obama was impressed with the numerous scholastic accolades that Ta’Kiyah had received and with her personal struggles with cancer.  He gave her a beautiful Presidential coin and Ta’Kiyah reciprocated with a Kids Wish Network Guardian Angel Coin. 

Later, Ta’Kiyah beamed with happiness about her experience. She said it was the best day of her life and, “That I wasn’t crying, my eyes were just watery that day!” 

Madeline