New club makes wishes come true

The Make-A-Wish foundation works to make people’s dreams come true and now you too can take part in what many consider is a miraculous program.

Make-A-Wish is a nation wide foundation that grants wishes to children who are battling life-threatening medical conditions. Nearly 14,000 children a year are provided with their wish.

PLNU’s campus recently welcomed a new club, Wishmakers, which will allow students to grant wishes to local children.

Junior Broadcast Journalism major Greta Wall serves as publicity leader for the Wishmakers club and is deeply invested in the work of the foundation.

“Wishmakers has a special place in my heart because my cousin, Aden who had acute myeloid leukemia at age 6 was granted a wish by Make-A-Wish just 2 years ago,” she said. “Aden wanted to see a volcano so Make-A-Wish sent her, her parents and younger sister to Hawaii for a week. They flew her in a helicopter over an active volcano. Aden was cancer free after six months and still is because of a marrow transplant from her younger sister.”

Ravi Smith, ASB Director of Student Relations, says Wishmakers is a wonderful addition to the clubs on campus.

“Wishmakers is a new club with the noble mission of helping those who are suffering achieve their dreams,”he said. “They are an embodiment of what it means to live as ones neighbor.”

A pizza party was held last Wednesday night as the official start of the club. Pizza Nova, a local Italian restaurant, sponsored the event, providing free pizza for all who attended.

About ten people came, each highly interested in joining the club. The hope of the event was to get people to understand what the club is all about and for them to sign up.

Whitney Ahart, a senior Social Work major, serves as the face behind the club. Ahart is the Youth Wish Leaders Program intern at Make-A-Wish San Diego, located downtown. She has been working with them since early September.

“The Wishmakers program has never been grown in the San Diego area and it is my job as an intern to grow the program,” said Ahart. “I thought this could best be done by starting with myself.”

Ahart says she started the club with hopes of serving and equipping children in the community.

“I have such a heart for children and I believe that the notion of hope can drastically change a suffering child’s quality of life and will to fight,” she said. “It will not only get the community involved in such an amazing non-profit organization but it will also open up opportunities for other PLNU students who want to intern, volunteer, or work for and with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.”

PLNU is the first campus in San Diego to have a Wishmakers club. The goal of the club is to fundraise on behalf of the Make-A-Wish foundation. Their first fundraising event will be held at the upcoming Fall Festival where they will have a booth asking people for donations and offering a game where people can win a gold fish. The club’s goal is to raise $8,000 to donate to the foundation.