Hi guys! I hope you’re enjoying a relaxing Saturday!
I have another reader volunteer story to share with all of you this afternoon. Today’s story comes from Hayley who wrote to me to tell me about her experience with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I hope you enjoy reading about her involvement with the amazing organization as much as I did!
To learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, click the link below to visit their website:
Hayley’s Story
The sole purpose of the Make-A-Wish Foundation® is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, in order to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. They want to provide children with the hope for better times, the strength for the tough times and the joy to experience the present. Granted wishes can be as practical as a new computer, as creative as conducting an orchestra or as memorable as attending the Olympic Games in London!
(Source)
What’s also amazing is that 97% of wish families say that the experience of their child receiving a wish gave them the opportunity to be a “normal” family again. Nothing seems normal when you have a child with a life-threatening condition but Make-A-Wish® does everything they can to make every wish kid’s experience as magical as possible starting at the very moment they are approved for the wish.
I first became involved with Make-A-Wish® of Oklahoma as an intern in 2009. Seeing firsthand how incredible the organization was became an unforgettable experience and I felt honored to put together wish trip itineraries for wish families as well as contribute to a little girl’s dream playhouse. I even had the opportunity to grant a wish while I was an intern! My sweet wish kid wanted to go to Disney World with her family; her bright eyes and big smile made it easy to forget she was battling leukemia. When I handed over all the goodies we had packed for them to take to Disney World, her mom thanked us as her eyes welled up with tears. I’ll never forget it.
After I finished college in Oklahoma, I moved back to Dallas, where I grew up. It didn’t take long for me to get information about the Make-A-Wish chapter in North Texas and I soon become a wish granter and volunteered to recruit participants for this year’s Walk for Wishes.
The Make-A-Wish® North Texas Walk for Wishes is a 5k and Fun Walk where participants, wish kids and volunteers take big strides to make more wishes come true. Every dollar raised from this fun-filled event will go to fulfilling the wishes of North Texas children. If you’re in the Dallas area, check out my blog post about the event and how you can get involved.
What has really complemented my experience with Make-A-Wish® is the use of social media. When I was an intern, I created and managed the Oklahoma chapter’s Twitter account. It took no time at all for us to begin receiving messages of thanks and willingness to donate to wishes. The staff was pleased to see the quick response and outreach while I began to see how these social platforms and the mission of Make-A-Wish® could easily intertwine.
Once I graduated and began working in the digital marketing industry, my expertise was extremely useful when it came to representing and promoting the organization. I work for a full-service marketing agency in Dallas so we’re always on top of what’s next in the industry as well as how we can give our clients the best. I approach my time for Make-A-Wish the same way! As I’ve begun recruiting for Walk for Wishes, I have found that blogs, online magazines and social networking have been some of the most effective ways to get people excited about the event.
- To learn more about volunteering with a Make-A-Wish® chapter near you, visit wish.org.
- Resources/Photos: http://www.ntx.wish.org/, https://www.facebook.com/makeawishnt/photos_stream
- Hayley: http://hayfwood.wordpress.com/, https://twitter.com/hfwood
***
Additional reader volunteer stories:
- Girls On the Run
- Back On My Feet
- Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation
- Big Brothers Big Sisters
- Cooking Matters
- National Sports Center for the Disabled
- Coalition for Refugee Resettlement
- Orlando Science Center
- Special Olympics
- The Humane Society
- Relay for Life
- UnSend
- Athena’s Warehouse
- Tampa Bay Watch
- Cheti
- Everybody Wins!
- New York Cares
- Team Rubicon
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
This is so incredibly eye-opening. I wish so badly that I could be a part of such a rewarding experience. For my volunteering, I choose to be a part of mission trips across the world (this year = Taiwan!) with my church group, and truly understand just how exciting the looks that you recieve can be.
II would love to volunteer with Make a Wish!
The make a wish foundation is such an amazing group. I knew this little girl amy who had cancer and her wish was to hang out with micky and mini mouse it was to to touching.
I freaking love you! You eat healthy, exercise, AND care about philanthropic causes! Just like me!! Love your blog!! I read it everyday right when I get to work! 🙂 About to start my own blog 🙂
I have been an avid reader of your blog for about the past 6 months. I went back and looked at old posts, and I must say you were a lot more entertaining when you had a real full time job. Why do you not post any of the freelance articles that you are working on every single day? If you’re so educated in health and nutrition, I’d sure like to read about it. Don’t get me wrong- I love seeing Sadie. My husband and I have a puppy vizsla ourselves and I grew up with one. Also- it’s obvious when your husband is out of town. I suppose I also don’t understand why you go to your parents house every time? Because you don’t work and you can? My husband is an officer in the army and is gone for weeks/months on end for training and what. It’s amusing o me when girls seem unable to be alone when their hubby’s are gone for a week. It just seems you came from a very privileged family and have never had to deal with real adult oriented issues. Must be why your fan base is so young.
To Kim:
Your post screams jealousy. Who are you to judge what Julie’s life is like? If she can fit in seeing her parents and wants to do so, who in the world should judge her for it? Once you hit 18 years old are you supposed to leave home and never see your parents again? Or are you supposed to work a 9-5 job even if you can earn a source of income doing something else because that is what mostly everyone else is doing?
I think Julie is a good role model for pursuing what she loves to do: if that is leaving a 9-5 job to concentrate on her blog and do freelance writing, so be it! I and I’m sure so many other people have benefited from her recipes, workout options, and energy that her blog shows. 🙂
I just posted a comment about this as well!
I absolutely HAVE benefited from her work outs and recipes. My first half was ran because of training she suggested!
Like I said in my comment, go look at her media tab. There’s some from this month in there.. She’s obviously working!
I have been reading your blog since summer and I think your life is very entertaining!! I absolutely love reading about your daily endeavors, workouts, meals, and of course Sadie!! It is sad that people would need to put you down, no one deserves so much hatred!! You go girl, we all love you!!
hi kim. since my parents’ condo was close to the half marathon i ran last weekend, i decided to stay there and spend some time with them. (they were watching sadie for me friday night since ryan was out of town on business, so i had to stop by there anyway.) i have been and always will be a very family-oriented person and since i have the flexibility to work from anywhere, spending a week with my family sounded great to me. i am happiest when i am with people i love and since i’m fortunate enough to live within driving distance of family, i take advantage of this luxury when i can. i completely understand if this is not something you would do, but it’s something i choose to do and hope to continue to do for a long time if i continue to have the flexibility. as for my work, i’ve ALWAYS kept this separate from the blog. when i worked full-time, i never went into detail about my job, and i like to continue to keep that separate from my blog. this blog focuses on workouts, food and family and i want to keep it that way. the blog is my financial backbone and while it may not count as a “real full-time job” to you, it allows me to work from home and i appreciate that very much. freelance work is also very important to me and i like to keep it separate from the blog for professional (and privacy) reasons. i do freelance work for local clients (brochure content, in-house newsletters, etc.) and a lot of this work has nothing to do with fitness, food, etc. i actually welcome the break to write about something else! i’m sorry you preferred my blog before but it has changed and it will likely continue to change as my life changes. while i’d be sad to see you go, it sounds like you may not enjoy reading my blog anymore and it may no longer be a good fit for you. there are a ton of blogs out there maintained by women who have “real full-time jobs” that you may enjoy more. thanks for taking the time to comment and i hope i’ve addressed your concerns. i’m just trying to live a life that makes me happy and while the way i live my life may not be the way you choose to live yours, i hope that we can respect each other moving forward.
Hi Julie! I’m a fourth-year journalism student and your blog is one of the few lifestyle/health/fitness blogs I keep coming back to read. I love that you post so consistently. ALSO, you can actually write (more than I can say about many blogs on the Internet!). I get why you keep the freelance stuff separate. It’s a great idea. Why post details of the work or the actual work you’re doing for clients?! It’s business. Good job. Love the blog. Have a great rest of your weekend!
– Lucy
Kim-
Rude, rude, rude. If you don’t like a blog- don’t read it. What is wrong with visiting parents while a spouse is out of town?! Life is short and our parents aren’t going to be around forever. Cherishing our time with loved ones is smart, not needy. Also, saying Julie doesn’t work is wildly inaccurate. A freelance writer works just as hard as anyone else and keeping the blog separate from those pieces is wise and makes her professional. I’m sure that Julie has ups and downs in her life just like anyone else, but as a wise woman, doesn’t post every time something has her feeling glum. Besides, last time I checked, her mom battled breast cancer which doesn’t exactly leave her life looking so perfect, does it? There are thousands and thousands of blogs out there, so if you don’t care for pbfingers, find something else to read, and keep your negativity to yourself.
I really enjoy reading this blog. I think it’s fantastic and I will continue to read for as long as Julie chooses to share with the blog world. Thank you, Julie, for the time you put into it and creating such a great site!
Also- loved reading about the Make A Wish Foundation! My cousin was dying and his wish was to have the Baltimore Orioles at his birthday party. Sure enough, there they were, and they made his dream come true before he passed away. Amazing!
What a great story. Make a wish really touches my heart because I work on an oncology floor at a children’s hospital. I love hearing when the kids get a make a wish granted!
It was great reading this! I was on a cruise last week out of Tampa, and onboard the ship they had the walk for wishes. It was awesome walking the track for a cause out in the middle of the sea!
That is so cool! I did not know other chapters’ Walk for Wishes events were like that. I love hearing stories about the organization from different parts of the country.
Hey Julie 🙂 thanks for sharing this, and thank you haley!!! You are both strong, inspiring women that I look up to 🙂 “don’t grow weary doing good!” ~somewhere in the bible. Happy Sunday!
I’ve been an avid reader of your blog since I discovered it via Pinterest about 8 months ago (I think). Though I don’t personally know you, I feel like I do because you reveal so much of your life. It seems to me that you are an extremely sweet, kindhearted person. I read the comment above and while I know there are always going to be those people who feel the need to just be cruel, I was actually SHOCKED. Personally, I feel like if you don’t like someone’s blog, just don’t read it!
I’ve learned a lot from Julie. I’ve done several of her workouts that made me SORE and feel the burn, I’ve cooked several of the recipes that were delicious and nutritious.
I think she probably doesn’t post specifically about health/nutrition because, yeah she knows a lot, but she’s not certified in it.
And, if you read about her last half that she did, she was closer to her parents so why NOT go there instead of home?! I’m all about spending as much time with my family as possible and it seems like Julie is too! And, to say she doesn’t work is incorrect. If you check out her media tab, you’ll see she’s written for Shape, Woman’s Health, Etc. Since Freelance writing is her job, why WOULD she write about that everyday? I’m sure who she writes for would be very upset if she revealed too much on her blog.
Lastly, I’m in my 20s and I love PBFingers. I’m not sure how old the lady above considered to be “young” but, my mom (and several of her friends) reads it as well and she’s almost 50 so I’d say no, it’s not just a young fan base.
But, I love Make A Wish! I volunteer for them every year. Those kids make my heart smile 🙂
I love your blog Julie and this was a great and informative reader store you chose!
I love your blog Julie and this was a great and informative reader story you chose!
I absolutely love the make a wish foundation. I have two brothers with cystic fibrosis and they were both able to have wishes granted. It was an unbelievable experience for my family!
I’m a huge fan of Make A Wish (or MAW as my friends and I call it). When I was going through sorority rush in college, I was struggling to decide between 2 sororities and found out on philanthropy night that one of the two was affiliated with MAW – as in all of our philanthropy activities benefited them! It totally sealed the deal for me! I know two people who have had wished granted through MAW – the children (and their families) really do enjoy getting their wishes granted and they have a huge impact! 🙂
Julie,
Thanks for showcasing Hayley’s story of her experiences interning for our Oklahoma chapter. While we granted 14,000 wishes last year alone, thousands more kids are diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition that may make them eligible for a wish – and we are committed to someday granting the wish of every eligible child. As Hayley shared, wishes are more than just a nice thing – they can be a powerful tool in the battle for health. Wishes give wish kids hope, help strengthen families that are under tremendous stresses, and change lives for everyone involved. And according to a recent wish impact study, 89 percent of medical professionals surveyed (doctors, nurses, social workers, child-life specialists) said that they believe a wish experience has the potential to influence a child’s PHYSICAL health condition.
There are very simple ways that people can help – whether by donating unused frequent flier miles to help grant travel wishes, which make up 74% of all wishes granted, becoming a volunteer for a local chapter, making a contribution, or just connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube and helping us reach others who need a wish or who can help.
Thanks again for shining a spotlight on Make-A-Wish. And thanks to those who left such thoughtful and kind comments. Best wishes.