Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation Honors Supporters at Wednesday, September 27 event in San Francisco

October 6, 2006

6 October, 2006 – The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation honored eight “heroes” at its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 27, 2006.  These corporations, groups and individuals have shown extraordinary support of the organization over the past fiscal year.  The heroes are selected based on their contributions of cash or in-kind goods and services, but are generally not acknowledged in any public way.

“This is one way in which we can highlight the extraordinary work of some of the people and organizations that support our chapter,” said Patricia Wilson, Executive Director.  “Make-A-Wish touches so many people in so many ways, and it shows in how they choose to support the Foundation.    We have been selected to receive funds from a sixteen-year-old boy who organizes an annual fishing tournament to honor his friend who had cancer, a design firm that wanted to outfit the Make-A-Wish/Z-Line Designs Ford-powered Daytona Prototype race car, a middle school that holds year-round bake sales and car washes, and a national corporation that helps us fund wishes.  It is the commitment of each of these heroes to the children we serve that we are proud to acknowledge.”

The Make-A-Wish Heroes are:

1. Longs Drugs, Walnut Creek – the sale of logo items at Longs resulted in the contribution of $197,000 to the Greater Bay Area chapter last year.

2. Mellam Family Foundation, Redwood City - the contribution of $85,000 helped fund a new Outreach Coordinator position and the chapter’s Volunteer Intranet.

3. UAW-GM – Bay Area dealers joined together to participate in Make A Difference Day and raised $49,000 last year.

4. Z-Line Designs, San Ramon – contributed $20,000 in wish granting activities, including support of the Make-A-Wish car currently in the Rolex Racing Series, and donated an additional $200,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.

5. Robert Baer, New York City – participated in a triathlon and raised $11,000 in memory of his cousin who was granted a wish by the Greater Bay Area chapter.

6. AJ Casella, Tiburon – now 16 years old, conducted two “Fish For A Wish” fundraisers that raised $34,000 in cash and in-kind contributions.

7. St. Mary’s Middle School, Walnut Creek – since 2004 the Student Council has raised over $11,000 through bake sales and other fundraisers.

8. Aethon, Pittsburgh, PA – donated an automated courier system, valued at $105,000, to help Jericho in his wish to create a robot to deliver medicine to children in the hospital.

About the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation

In 2006, the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation® celebrates 22 years of fulfilling magical wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. One of the largest chapters nationwide, it has granted over 4,000 wishes in its 17 Northern California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Solano and Sonoma.  In 2005, the Chapter was recognized with a coveted “Best in America Seal of Excellence” award, the first Make-A-Wish Chapter to achieve this distinction for its outstanding management and governance practices.  Of the 1,000,000 charities operating in the United States today, it is estimated that fewer than 50,000, or 5 percent, meet or exceed these standards, and, of those, fewer than 2,000 have been awarded this Seal.   For more information, please call (800) 464-9474 or visit www.makewish.org.

Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry
(415) 693-0583 / news@davidperry.com

Category: Press Release | Tags: jim-sexton, make-a-wish, charity