There’s a certain power in making a wish, in expressing a fervent desire to the universe. At birthday parties, we feel a bit of magic when a child squeezes their eyes shut, crosses their fingers and sends out their silent plea before blowing out the candles. It’s impossible to calculate how much wish fulfillment means to a child. But it’s huge. At the Make-A-Wish (MAW) Foundation, a child’s wish takes on extra significance. The Foundation grants wishes to children aged three to 17 who are facing life-threatening medical conditions.
This year, Make-A-Wish Saskatchewan made a concerted effort to elevate awareness of the Foundation in the province. As part of those efforts, Saskatchewan director, Allison Toye, approached Delonix Homes early in the year about sponsorship. They loved the idea. “Both my wife Vanessa and I have been looking for a couple years to give back,” says Daryl Shannon, owner of Delonix Homes. The company has been involved in residential construction in the city for nine years. It’s a relationship-based business that focuses on single family homes and more elite renos. Shannon says he and Vanessa are submerged in doing what they love”. “We’ve been successful in Saskatoon in what we do and we wanted to be part of something that we felt pretty passionate about, as an extension of what we do on a day to day basis.”
Part of their passion originates in a loss they experienced some years ago. Now they treasure their two-and-a-half-year-old son, Austin, as the most special part of their lives, and feel humbled to be involved, Shannon says. “Everything lined up with what we felt was a great charity to be involved with,” says Shannon. Their sponsorship involved supporting several events over the year. “We signed up as title sponsor for all three of the events. It was a great opportunity for us to be impactful in something that we found a lot of value in.”
In spring, Delonix participated in “Shaker Full of Wishes,” a ritzy, fun event at the Bessborough Hotel, where martinis were shaken, funds were raised and wish stories were told. A second event in late August got the kids involved in “Lemonade for Wishes.” Kids across the province set up lemonade stands to raise money. Every single dollar raised went directly to granting wishes. “Just over $13,000 was raised, so that’s really cool when you think about it from a lemonade stand point of view,” Shannon says. The “Women for Wishes” golf tournament took place at the Dakota Dunes Golf Course in mid-September. The event drew a tremendous response. Women began the day with a buffet breakfast followed by a caddy auction involving local business men and people in the health care field who have spent time with some of the Make-A-Wish children. After golf, the women enjoyed cocktails and a celebratory dinner.
The Foundation grants wishes in four possible ways. ‘To have’ wishes can provide a child with something like an amazing bedroom renovation, a hideout or a serenity garden. ‘To be’ wishes may be fulfilled by becoming part of a favourite sports team for a day. A 2016 wish sent a high school student who wants to be prime minister to meet Justin Trudeau. Always popular are ‘to go’ wishes, which send kids to their dream destination. Disneyland is a favourite choice. Some kids wish ‘to meet’ someone they idolize, like a sports star, pop star, cartoon character or other celebrity.
Shannon finds it amazing to see the positive impact Make-A-Wish is having in Saskatchewan. “After having the opportunity to be involved and go to these events that we’d sponsored and meet some of the kids, it’s very, very cool to see kids faces light up.
It can get pretty emotional but you know they can see a little bit of hope and it eases some of the stresses and physical exhaustion
of the treatments they go through.” It’s also a bit of a reprieve for parents, siblings and health care professionals. That emotion comes to the surface as Shannon talks about their experiences. The cause is close to his heart. “It’s pretty awesome when you can make an impact like that.”
Delonix would love to continue their sponsorship and down the road may look at doing an elite sponsorship which allows an individual or company to sponsor a child through the entire Wish process. Those who want to answer the silent plea of suffering children and help engineer some magic to make wishes come true, can make financial donations, inquire about sponsorships or volunteer. See makeawish.ca for more information.