Game Plan
Our goal for the year is to plan and successfully execute a fundraiser for the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada. Teams of five to six students have been diligently working on galas, bar nights, murder mystery experiences and Wild West nights among other things, learning the skills we will need in the workplace. Naturally, our teachers are passing on their knowledge and experience to us, but every step of the way they have also been emphasizing something else: we are raising money for something special.
Who?
The Children’s Wish Foundation is a Canadian organization that finances “wishes” for children between the ages of three and 17, who are suffering from high-risk and life-threatening illnesses. Health is something we often take for granted. Most of us, especially young adults, do not really think about what life would be like if we were sick, let alone dying. However, for some families, illness is all too familiar. Children’s Wish gives kids and their families an opportunity to relax and get away from endless tests, hospital visits, and the constant worry illness brings. Kids get to see their most heartfelt wishes come to life: anything from going to Harry Potter World in Florida and meeting Daniel Radcliffe, to swimming with dolphins, and their parents getting to see their children happy and enjoying life.
Take Action
Every week, my team meets to plan our NHL themed pub night, The Great Canadian Faceoff. We seem to talk endlessly about logistics and programming, finding donations and marketing. All of the details make it seem like an epic and daunting task. Some days it seems like too much to ask on top of taking six classes, working and getting ready to go on the hunt for a job. But then, a representative from Children’s Wish comes in, and you hear the story of one of the kids the foundation has helped, how their trip to Disneyland was the highlight of a year filled with chemo and surgeries, and it seems petty to think what we do is hard. It’s not: fighting cancer is hard. Endless tests and hospital visits, those are hard.
So, the most important things I have learned this year are not the skills for my future career, but applying those skills to give back and help the community. Our class of approximately 85 people is helping three kids get their wishes granted. Help us pay it forward by supporting our events. You never know, maybe one day your child will be the one who needs a wish.
Find out more by looking at our website, and help us out by liking our Facebook page and by following us on Twitter!
The Great Canadian Faceoff will be on March 23, 2012 at Liam Maguire’s Irish Pub and Sports Bar
This article was written by Daina