A representative of Illinois chapter of the Make A Wish Foundation was on hand to receive a check from students at Lincoln Land Community College in Jacksonville yesterday afternoon.
The LLCC-Jacksonville Students with Disabilities class raised just over $6-thousand to allow a local child and his parents to take a trip to Disney World in August.
James Charles, a student in the class, says the class was asked by its teacher to come up with a community service-oriented event to interact with the community, which led to the decision to fundraise for Make A Wish.
“Our initial operation, we thought the first thing we could do ourselves was start a bake sale. But through that, we were able to put up advertising in the community, and visit businesses on the square, and through word of mouth, we gathered interest from other members of the community. Wal-Mart gove involved and was able to contribute money. From our bake sale alone, we were able to get other members involved,” says Charles.
Charles says one factor in selecting Make A Wish for the fundraiser was the desire to keep the money that was raised local.
“We grant wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions in the State of Illinois, and the average cost per wish is between $6,000 to $10,000. And so, fundraisers like this go to help grant the wishes,” Ashley White, a Make A Wish spokesperson says.
“Last year, we granted 704 wishes in the state, and in the next five years, our goal is to get every eligible child. That will be about a thousand kids. And we’re going to do that with people like this,” she says.