Every year, Linda Chriswell, instructor of the Lincoln Land Community College’s EDU 215 class, asks her students to put on an event in service to the community. In the past, they have held festivals for the young students of ISVI and ISD but this year they did something a little different. The students decided to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation.
“Every year it is an incredible experience, but this year it was just really special,” Chriswell said.
The class set a goal of $6,000 and started selling baked goods to the students on campus. James Charles, a member of the class, said “Our mission became raising as much money as we could in our short time frame for ‘wish’ kids in our area.” A few of the students went around to local businesses where they found not just financial support, but support in the form of merchandise for the end of the year raffle. In their final fundraising push, Presbyterian Daycare held a bake sale at their church and gave the profits to the class. Walmart stores in the area also gave money to help the students reach their goal.
The class was rewarded with a personal visit from Make-A-Wish foundation representative, Ms. Ashley White. Charles, along with his fellow classmates, presented a check to Make-A-Wish for $6,002.25. Ms. White announced to the class that this year the Illinois Chapter of Make-A-Wish is celebrating its 30th year of operation.
Every year, the Illinois chapter helps around 700 children with life-threating illnesses fulfill their wish. Each wish costs about $6,000-$10,000. Ms. White explained that the 5-year goal is to grant each wish to the estimated 1,200 children in Illinois diagnosed with life-threating illnesses every year.
