Jack Bjorn, 16, of Hampden lives with a life-threatening blood disorder and will be granted a Make-A-Wish trip to Hawaii in celebration of World Wish Day on April 29. Jack will help give back to Make-A-Wish with an annual fundraiser in Bangor, Rock for Wishes, on April 9.

Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Maine Celebrates
“World Wish DaySM” by Granting Wish April 29

PORTLAND, Maine – March 29, 2010 - On April 29, 30 years to the day after a young leukemia patient named Chris was granted his wish to be a police officer for a day, Make-A-Wish Foundation representatives around the globe will celebrate the first-ever World Wish Day, in honor of the day that sparked a global wish-granting movement.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation will grant wishes in United States and 36 other countries on April 29 to celebrate World Wish Day. On average, every 25 minutes, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wish of a child with a life-threatening medical condition somewhere in the world. Every five days, there is a Maine child having his or her greatest wish granted. Jack, 16, from Hampden, Maine will be the local wish granted in honor of World Wish Day and he chose to go to Hawaii with his family.
 
“We are granting Jack’s wish to celebrate World Wish Day and highlight the hope, strength and joy that the Make-A-Wish Foundation brings children with life-threatening medical conditions every day,” said Melinda, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine Wish Manager. “We encourage people to join in the celebration and help us reach every eligible wish child in Maine. One way to really make an impact with travel wishes like these is to go online and donate your airline miles.”

As part of the Make-A-Wish process, each wish child is paired with two volunteer wish granters who work with the seriously-ill child to determine his or her wish. Jack, who lives with Aplastic Anemia, told his wish granters that he wished to go to Hawaii because it would be “really cool to go snorkeling near a reef.” In this particular wish, there is a unique relationship between the wish family and the wish granters.

Jack’s father, Preston, was the trauma nurse when Jack’s wish granters (Mark and Tracy) were in the emergency room with their one-year-old daughter, Danielle, who was fighting a life-threatening medical condition of her own. Danielle was granted a wish to go to Walt Disney World in May 2002. The two families kept in touch over the years and now Mark and Tracy are wish granters for Preston’s son. Danielle’s sister, Lindsay, holds an annual fundraiser called Rock for Wishes and this year, Jack asked to help with it.

The event will take place on Friday, April 9 at 7:00pm at the Union Street Brick Church. Admission is $5 and food and drink will be available for a small fee. Attendees can vote for their favorite band with cash or check donations. Bands at this year’s Rock for Wishes will be Stop Is The New Go, These October Skies, Beyond Goodbye, The Boddingtons, and Evidence Unseen. All proceeds will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine.

Jack loves to participate in and watch sports. His favorite teams are the beloved New England Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox. Also true to his New England spirit, his favorite food is lobster.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Wishes granted by the Foundation typically fall into one of four categories: To Be (e.g., a ballerina, a firefighter), To Meet (e.g., a favorite celebrity or athlete), To Have (e.g., a computer, a playhouse), or To Go (e.g., to a theme park, to Hawaii). In 2009, the Foundation granted nearly 20,000 wishes – more than 13,000 for children in the United States and almost 7,000 for children outside of the United States and its territories. A wish is granted to a Maine child by the Maine chapter every five days, on average.

You can share the power of a wish® on World Wish Day – refer your child, make a donation, spread the word, give your unused frequent flier miles, help the Make-A-Wish Foundation bridge the gap. Learn how at www.mainewish.org.

About the Make-A-Wish Foundation

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The Maine Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation opened in 1992. As of March, 2010, we have granted over 900 wishes. This year, the Foundation expects to grant the greatest wish of over 75 seriously ill Maine children, which is an average of one wish every five days. The average cost of a wish is $6,000. All wish expenses are fully covered by the Foundation. The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and all contributions are tax deductible.

For more information about Rock for Wishes, call John Wilson at 249-8729.

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Eight Years Later, Past Wish Recipient Gives Back, Comes Full Circle 3/19/10

Past Make-A-Wish recipient and Saco resident Adam Baillargeon (left) stands with his mentor, late Shane McConkey at Squaw Valley USA. As a way to give back, Adam (with High Fives Non-Profit Foundation and Shane’s family) recently donated $1,500 to Make-A-Wish in honor of Shane.

In February, 2002 an 18-year-old boy named Adam from Saco was fortunate to have overcome a rare form of cancer and was granted a Make-A-Wish trip to ski with Shane McConkey at Squaw Valley USA in Tahoe. Eight years later, Adam reflects on the fact that his wish was the impetus for a spectacular friendship with Shane and a personal building block to a practice of giving back to the community.

If he were to title the story of what has happened to him over the past 8 years, he’d call it “Full Circle.”

“I will never forget the incredible adrenaline surge I felt when I first met my skiing hero in front of the Cable Car at Squaw Valley USA,” said Adam Baillargeon, now 26, of Truckee, CA.  “He showed me the ropes as well as introduced me to a venerable ‘who’s who’ of pro skiers. Words like surreal and unbelievable don’t do enough justice to quantify how great it was to ski with Shane.”

Knowing that group of ‘who’s who’ pro skiers helped Adam decide that, when it came time, he’d like to have a career connected to the winter action sports world.

Shane and Adam stayed in touch through the years and Adam visited him and his family in 2004, before he graduated college. Upon graduation in 2007, Shane and Adam exchanged emails and phone calls, which is how Adam learned of an opening at Squaw Valley USA.

 “Shane was not only instrumental in how he motivated me to continue to get healthy once I was in remission from cancer; he also helped me land a job at Squaw and continued to amaze me with random days shared on the mountain,” said Adam.

In March of 2009, Adam’s 39-year-old mentor, Shane, was in a fatal ski accident at the Dolomite Mountains in Italy.  On this one tragic day, Adam lost his hero and a great friend.

“My life, like so many others would never be the same. I will be forever honored to have known the man.”

Following this time of devastation felt by Shane’s family and the entire ski community, Adam found an outlet to give back to the world in a way that connected to his passion for skiing. In February of 2009, the High Fives Nonprofit Foundation was created to raise money and awareness for athletes who have suffered a life-altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community and Adam was on board just six months later. 

“For all the good fortune I have had in overcoming cancer, it feels great to be able to give back,” said Adam. “To say that I am stoked is an understatement!”

On February 27, 2010, Baillargeon and the High Fives Non-Profit Foundation together with Biking for a Better World (an Olympic Valley CA based non-profit) held the 2010 Squaw Valley Prom. With just over 500 attendees, it was the best prom to date. Funds raised were split between the two charities with the goal of also donating to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine in the name of Shane McConkey. A check of $1,500 was presented to Sherry McConkey, wife of the late, great ski superstar Shane McConkey. Sherry agreed that it would be an honor to Shane to donate the funds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The much-appreciated funds are, right now, being used to help grant a wish for another deserving Maine child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition.

“All of us here at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine commend Adam for the work he is doing through the High Fives Foundation,” said Kate Vickery, Program Director at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine. “We are thrilled and grateful that he and Shane’s family have chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Foundation on behalf of Shane. He would undoubtedly be very proud of this donation and there is no better way to acknowledge and honor Shane’s memory than to help change someone else’s life. Adam’s story completely exemplifies what we call the power of a wish!”

On average, the Maine chapter grants a wish to a Maine child every five days and each of those wishes costs approximately $6,000. The mission of the Foundation is dependant upon donations from generous people like Adam, Shane’s family and others involved in this decision.

“With this possibility becoming a reality, I feel relieved and honored to give back to an organization that has changed my life in every conceivable and positive way! From the trip itself and the strength and energy it gave me, to the life-long connections and friendships from it, I am forever grateful,” said Adam.

He continued, “Shane’s wife Sherry and his daughter, Ayla McConkey are amazingly strong, wonderful people and it is with this donation that they and I hope more people will not only continue to pursue their dreams as Shane inspired me to do, but that they also feel the hope that wishes bring to hearts across America.”

Adam’s parents live in Saco and continue to donate their time to Make-A-Wish as volunteers at events across the state. His mother, Cathy Baillargeon is critical to the success of Saco’s Walk for Wishes, which is an upcoming fundraiser held across the state, including Hill Stadium at Thornton Academy on May 27, 2010. The event is open to the public and registration is open at www.mainewish.org.

For more information on these outstanding organizations, please visit the following web sites:

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine (http://www.mainewish.org/)
High Fives Non-Profit Foundation (www.highfivesfoundation.org)
Biking for a Better World (www.bikingforabetterworld.org)
2010 Squaw Valley Prom (www.squawvalleyprom)
Shane McConkey Foundation (http://shanemcconkey.org/)

Smiles for Hayley: Donations from Christmas lights display fund Disney World trip
By Gillian Graham, Staff Writer, Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier
Hayley Desjardins walked slowly through the door of her classroom, her classmates swirling with excitement around her.

With a hand covering her mouth and her sister by her side, Hayley walked up to two waiting princesses and smiled as Cinderella welcomed the girls to Hayley’s Make- A-Wish party.
“We’re very happy you get to have a wish,” Cinderella said to a giggling Hayley as a second princess placed a crown on the7-year-old Saco girl’s head.

The princesses visited Fairfi eld School last week along with other Make-A-Wish Foundation volunteers for a pizza party in honor of Hayley, who has aplastic anemia. She leaves this week for a weeklong trip to Disney World with her family.

Hayley was diagnosed with the rare bone marrow failure disease in 2008 before undergoing months of hospitalizations and blood and platelet transfusions. Her family founded the Hugs From Hayley race and fun walk to raise money for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. The annual event also features a bone marrow registry drive.

Hayley, who is now in remission, said she chose to go to Disney World “because I’ve been wanting to go for a really long time.” She and her 5-year-old sister, Maddie, collected spare change to save for the trip before learning the trip would be paid for by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine.

“We’re going to save more and give all the rest to Ellie,” Maddie said while eating pizza with her sister. Ellie is a 5- year-old friend who has cancer.

Watching as his daughters ate lunch and chatted with the princesses, Michael Desjardins said his family was looking forward to the trip. “We are just ecstatic. Hayley and Maddison have been through so much. It’s such a great reward for them,” he said.

Hayley’s mom, Allison Desjardins, said she was overwhelmed at the generosity of strangers who donated the $6,000 it costs to grant a wish. The money was donated to Stan and Melissa Norton of Wells by visitors to their “Norton Lights” holiday display, which featured lights synchronized to music visitors listened to on their car radios.

“It just goes to show you there are a lot of good people in this world,” Allison Desjardins said. “It amazes me every day there are people willing to help those who are sick.”

Michael Desjardins said he is also grateful for the support of the community. The family will continue to organize Hugs From Hayley to give back to the people who have supported
them, he said. “We can’t personally pay back all the people who have helped, but we can do it by staying active and paying it forward,” he said. “We’re very, very grateful she is doing so
well.”

After flipping through a princess-themed folder with the trip itinerary, Hayley and Maddie talked with the princesses about what they’re most excited to see at Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World. They will stay at Give Kids the World, a resort for families being granted wishes.

“I’m most excited about meeting Ariel (the Little Mermaid),” Maddie said. “And we get ice cream for breakfast.”

Hayley said she is most looking forward to visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom – and ordering sweets from Give Kids the World’s 24-hour room service.

“My mom said don’t even think about waking up in the middle of the night and asking for a brownie from room service,” Hayley said. “I’m excited to go on the trip.

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