To volunteer with Make-A-Wish Georgia, go to www.georgia.wish.org
For the second year in a row, Atlanta Make-A-Wish kids wished it forward by creating hearts and making teddy bears at the Wish It Forward Valentine’s Day Party on Feb. 6 at Build-A-Bear Workshop at North Point Mall in Alpharetta.
At the party, Make-A-Wish kids and their families built bears for themselves and for other Wish Kids, which will be delivered to children in various hospitals throughout the Metro Atlanta area.
Teresa Bath, director of community events and national alliances at Make-A-Wish Georgia, noted the excitement of this event for the kids and their families. “For a couple of hours, the families forget about doctors’ appointments or hospital visits, and they just get to have fun and the kids get to be kids,” she said. “At the same time, the kids get to give back to other Wish Kids.”
Over 150 bears were made at the party and they will be given to children before they go on their wish in the next few months. The community can be a part of the Share Your Heart campaign or become involved with Make-A-Wish as a volunteer to help children’s wishes come true.
When she was asked how fun the party was, Zoë-Paige Studer, 5, extended her arms out as far as possible to display her excitement. She also realized that the party was special, “because I am a Wish Kid and I made a bear for another Wish kid.”
Wish It Forward is a part of Build-A-Bear’s Share Your Heart campaign that runs through March 31. Guests visiting any Build-A-Bear store who make a donation of $1 or more can have the opportunity to purchase a satin heart to benefit Make-A-Wish. They will also be able to sign a special greeting for a child in a local hospital. Last year, the campaign raised over $400,000 for Make-A-Wish.
In other news: The Office Depot Foundation donated $1,000 to the Cowart Family Ashford Dunwoody YMCA's afterschool program at High Point Elementary School. Along with the donation, the office-supply store gave school supplies, children's books, sackpacks and other essential items for the organization's teachers and students. The donation was a part of the foundation's A Day Made Better Program, which recognizes Title I and other high-need elementary schools and teachers across the country for their dedication and the work that they do to inspire children to learn.
Siuprem Inc., a full-service independently owned insurance premium finance company in Alpharetta, presented American Cancer Society with $60,000 for the Atlanta-based nonprofit’s breast cancer programs, research and the fight against breast cancer.
Delta Community Credit Union presented three DeKalb county non-profits with checks for a total of $5,000 on Feb. 18. The recipients included St. Joseph’s Mercy Care Services for its Latino Childhood Obesity Prevention Program; CHRIS Kids for its TransitionZ program which provides skills, counseling and other supports through innovative programming; and The Community School for its Outdoor Program, which is a physical education program for adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Day, Great Expressions Dental Centers donated $52,000 to local charities, schools and other organizations across the country. In Atlanta, donations were made to The King Center, Morehouse College and Meharry School of Dentistry.
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