Featured Supporter The girls in Brownie Troop 561 in Auburn/Lewiston were inspired to help Make-A-Wish for their fellow troop member Hailey, who has brain cancer and has made a wish to go to Walt Disney World Resort. Seven-year-old Hailey and her family organized a team called "Hailey's Army" to participate in our Walk For Wishes in Lewiston last May, and some of the girls in her troop joined the walk. All together, "Hailey's Army" raised nearly $3,000! Click to view full story.

Hear what a pediatric cardiologist has to say about Make-A-Wish. Dr. Jon Donnelly, MD - Pediatric Cardiologist Listen to audio -- 2.3 MB

There are a lot of opportunities to get involved with Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Maine.

In an effort to help you better understand the volunteer opportunities available with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Maine, brief descriptions are listed below. Some of our volunteers wear many hats and some help once a year; but all are equally valuable to us. Please know that most of our volunteer needs do not involve a consistent schedule (e.g. volunteering between 1PM and 3PM every Tuesday). Flexibility, and sometimes patience, are keys to being a successful Make-A-Wish volunteer.

Remember, it's easy to get involved. Simply contact our office and let us know what you would be interested in. We'll let you know when training sessions, where applicable, will be held, and we'll help get you started.

Development/ Fund-Raising

This could involve formulating, developing and organizing fund-raising events, staffing events, developing contacts with Maine businesses, searching for in-kind donors, etc.

Office/Clerical

Volunteers are periodically needed to assist with light office work (phones, mailings, etc.) in or out of the office.

Special Events

Special Events volunteers are called upon to do a variety of tasks. They represent the Make-A-Wish Foundation® at community festivals and parades, send-off and welcome back wish children at the airports, participate in charity events throughout the state, and do behind the scenes work for wish granters, to name a few.

Wish Granting

This specially trained group of volunteers comes into direct contact with the wish children and their families and works tirelessly to fulfill each child's dream. Most Wish Granters complete one or two wishes per year. They are NOT financially responsible for the wish. Wish granting volunteers must be 21 years old or older.

In-Kind Donations

An in-kind donation is a donation of non-monetary product or service. Unfortunately, we cannot accept used items. All items must be new. Donations such as this provide great benefit in helping the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Maine stretch our dollars in support of Maine's Special Children, and we are very appreciative of your support.

Donation Wish List
The following items are on our "wish list."

Contribute Items to our Wish Closet!

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine provides "travel bags" filled with all kinds of fun things for all wish children and their siblings who are going on travel related wishes. AND, since travel related wishes make up about 80% of the wishes we grant every year...that's a lot of goodies needed to put inside! We have a wish closet in our Camden office that has been depleted of all kinds of different items to fill travel bags, and we could use some help stocking it up again! Below are some examples of the types of items we're looking for - basically anything fun to keep kids occupied while waiting in airports or to occupy their time while in the air.

• Phone cards (both for U.S. and international travel)
• Disposable cameras (we send these out with each family that travels)
• Teen/adult toothbrushes
• Small handheld electronic games and
• Non-electronic games
• Coloring books
• Picture books
• Word search books, crossword books, activity books
• Sudoku books
• 'tween to teenage books
• Construction paper and scribble pads
• Journals
• Playing cards
• Small stuffed toys appropriate for children under age 3

Those are just a few ideas to get you started! You can hold a collection drive for the items, or you can hold a fundraiser and then use the money to shop for the items yourself.

For more information, of if you have questions regarding items for our Wish Closet, please contact Kate at the Make-A-Wish office at 221-2306 or kvickery@maine.wish.org.