Kids For Wish Kids®

Kids For Wish Kids® is Make-A-Wish® Northeastern California and Northern Nevada’ program for kids who, in their own special way, help other kids who have life-threatening medical conditions. It is uniquely designed for K-12 school students, student organizations and other youth groups such as scout troops, vacation bible schools and day care centers. Children and students of all ages create ideas for fundraisers and manage the projects with little or no help from their teachers, leaders or supervisors. Along the way, children experience the joy of giving, develop school spirit and learn to work together toward a common goal while making a wish come true.

Kids For Wish Kids program objectives:

  • Increase awareness among children and teenagers about the mission of Make-A-Wish
  • Encourage young people to become actively involved in fulfilling wishes through Make-A-Wish
  • Foster the value of community service, using this program as a hands-on learning experience for children
  • Create school spirit and help students learn how to work together for a common goal

How to Start Kids For Wish Kids in Your School or Organization

If you would like to start a Kids For Wish Kids project in your school or with your organization, we would be happy to help. Here are some tips to get started:

  • Invite a Make-A-Wish Foundation representative to give a presentation at your school. We have talented speakers, videos and lots of photos of our wish children. Once students find out about the Make-A-Wish Foundation and see the smiles a wish can bring to a child’s face, they are usually eager to become involved.
  • Choose an individual or small group to be in charge. This is an important step. An organized, enthusiastic group or chairperson will keep the project on track. If you’re planning to do several fundraisers over a period of time, consider having different students be in charge of each project. This is a great way to keep everyone involved and on track toward your fund raising goal. A paper thermometer is a great method to use. It’s also a great motivator for everyone to see how you’re progressing toward your goal.
  • Challenge other homerooms, classes or schools. This is a great way to get more students involved in your fundraiser. The more students involved, the more fun it can be and the more successful your fundraiser will be.

For More Information:
Kerry Cregan
External Events Coordinator
916-692-3930 or 888-828-9474
kcregan@necannv.wish.org

Kids For Wish Kids Project Ideas:

Here are some fun and successful ideas that other schools have used.

Have a “Make-A-Wish® Money Week” or challenging “Money Wars.”
On Monday, students donate their pennies; on Tuesday they donate nickels; on Wednesday they donate dimes; on Thursday they donate quarters; and on Friday, they donate one-dollar bills. You may want to locate a bank that is willing to count your change. One local elementary school raised $1,200 in one week!

Have a Dance Marathon.
You will need to reserve your school’s gymnasium and ask a local DJ to donate his or her services. Have students obtain pledges from relatives and friends and ask local businesses to make cash donations or donate food or gifts to use as door prizes for dancers. Think of fun activities to keep dancers busy, i.e. the hokey pokey, the limbo, the chicken dance, etc. Determine a time frame for the marathon; we suggest six hours.

Have a Teacher Dress Down Day.
Get permission from your principal and put flyers in the teachers’ mailboxes to let them know that a certain day will be an official teacher dress down day. For $1 or more, teachers can dress down to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. One local school hosts a dress down day for teachers every Friday of the school year and raised more than $750 for the Foundation. (If you are in a school where uniforms are worn, consider talking to your principal about a dress down day for students.)

Have a Make-A-Wish Fun Run.
Students from all schools in your school district can participate in this event or all classes in your school! All joggers and walkers are asked to make a small donation to participate. One school district recently asked for $3 from elementary students, $4 from middle school students and $5 from their high school students. They also sold Fun Run T-shirts. Their one mile Fun Run raised $4,500 in one afternoon.

Have a Paper Chain Link Contest.
Paper links are sold to students for 50 cents, and each grade makes a different color chain. They compete to see who can make the longest paper chain for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. (We also have colorful stars that can be sold and then used to decorate a hall or classroom.)

Have a Hat Day.
Students give a $1.00 donation to wear a hat all day at school. You may even want to give a prize to the student wearing the funniest hat.

Sell Candy-Grams.
For 50 cents or one dollar, kids write messages to friends and teachers, which are delivered during the day. Each message has a piece of candy attached. Candy-grams work especially well around holidays.

Have a Pie-in-the-Face Contest.
You can sell $1.00 raffle tickets for a chance to throw a whip cream pie at the face of your favorite teacher at your next assembly. Be sure to have the teacher wear a large, plastic garbage bag over his or her clothes!

Have a Read-A-Thon.
Call the Make-A-Wish Foundation for their Kids For Wish Kids pledge form or develop a simple pledge form of your own. Next, send a letter home with students asking friends and relatives for pledges based on the number of books their child will read in one month. At the end of the month, students collect the pledges and turn in their donation to their teachers.

Have a Bowl-A-Thon
One local 4th Grade raised $6,800 to fund two wishes by collecting sponsorships such as 5 cents per pin or a $5.00 flat donation from friends and family. The class that raised the most received a pizza party and all the participants received cookies donated by a local grocer. Ask your local bowling alley to donate a few lanes for the event.

Host a Bachelor Auction
Ask members of your high school to be bachelors in your auction. Guys from the sports teams are usually willing to participate. Then ask local businesses to donate gift certificates to be used on a date i.e. dinner for two, movie tickets for two, sporting event tickets for two, etc. Charge admission to the auction and start the bidding. This event is a lot of fun.

You can try one of these project ideas or devise a Kids For Wish Kids project of your own. If you have any ideas that worked for your school or organization, please let us know, and we’ll pass them on. Once you have decided what you would like to do, please fill out our Kids For Wish Kids Activity Form and send it to us.