Brooklyn Gives
Kings County’s Make-A-Wish chapter grants a
record number of requests for sick youngsters
Brooklyn is bursting with wish
grantors!
Big-hearted locals from
around the borough helped a charitable
organization grant more wishes
to critically ill kiddos in 2018 than
ever before, according to leaders of
the group, who cheered the Kings
Countians for their overwhelming
generosity.
“In 2017, we had a severe problem
where we didn’t have enough grantors
for the kids awaiting wishes,”
said Brooklyn Make-A-Wish Counsel
Chairman Khari Edwards. “Last
year we broke records, now having
more wish granters than kids waiting
for wishes. It was amazing.”
Edwards joined the leadership of
the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s local
arm about a year and a half ago.
And since then, the chairman amped
up the chapter’s outreach in the borough,
and relocated the Make-A-Wish
training headquarters from Manhattan
to Borough Hall — two changes
he said resulted in the program’s recent
success.
“Many think that the Make-A-Wish
Foundation is a distant, multi-million
dollar, non-profi t organization,”
Edwards said. “My call to action was
to educate Brooklyn that it’s an organization
that anyone can jump right
into and get their hands dirty to
make a tangible impact.”
The Brooklynites who helped
make the impossible possible —
whom the foundation calls “wish
granters” — did so in two ways, with
some donating cash to pay for the requests,
and others volunteering time
to help make the dreams a reality
by assisting kids with fi ling the required
paperwork to request wishes,
and then planning out the elaborate
schemes using funds from the foundation.
Many locals gave up their weekends
in order to grant the 2018
wishes — which spanned a wide variety
of interests, including visits to
Disney World, and going on a glamorous
shopping spree, according to
Edwards.
“This borough is home, and when
you challenge folks in Brooklyn to
improve the community, they will
follow through,” he said. “There is
nothing like seeing the joy of a kid’s
smile when you give them the opportunity
to make a wish. We had folks
asking to sign up from almost every
neighborhood in Brooklyn, which
has never been seen before.”
The chairman aspires to even further
increase the number of Brooklyn
6 ONE BROOKLYN | SPRING 2019
granters over the next year, while
continuing to highlight the impact
that Make-A-Wish has on sick local
youngsters, he said.
“Think about someone who doesn’t
know if they are going to see tomorrow,”
Edwards said. “Now think
about giving them the opportunity
to smile — that will only take a few
hours out of your life.”
Edwards and other Make-A-Wish
leaders recently toasted those locals
who helped the youngsters’ dreams
come true at Downtown’s City Point
shopping center during the foundation’s
third-annual Make-A-Wish Day
bash on Jan. 24, the date Borough
President Adams dubbed “Brooklyn
Make-A-Wish Day” back in 2017.
“I am proud to have proclaimed
January 24th as Make-A-Wish Day
in the County of Kings,” Adams said
at the well-attended celebration. “Every
child deserves the same opportunities
to succeed in life and realize
their full potential, particularly
those who are experiencing health
complications or illnesses. Children
enduring such trauma should be empowered
with experiences that enlighten
their hearts and uplift their
minds with the magical splendor of
life. These kinds of inspiring moments
have the power to truly uplift
and heal.”
Max Reznik and his sister Elizabeth Reznik were all smiles as they
walked the red carpet at the 2019 Make-A-Wish Day event.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Khari Edwards, the chair of the
Make-A-Wish Brooklyn Counsel,
celebrated the do-good group’s
accomplishments during a party
on January 24, which Borough
President Adams declared
Make-A-Wish Day.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
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