Gal Sapozhnikov

26-year-old Gal Sapozhnikov’s wish was granted in 2010 when he was 18 years old. Gal met his favorite athlete and hero, the world famous soccer player, Leo Messi, in Barcelona.

When Gal returned from his wish, the first thing he wanted to do was to get involved and help other children actualize their wishes. For over seven years, nothing has stopped him. Even while doing his army service, Gal found time to work in the Make-A-Wish office and help in any capacity he could.

He has won volunteer of the month every year for the past seven years, and was also given the award of volunteer of the year at the Annual Gala.

Gal is part of the Make-A-Wish family, and continues to find new ways to help the foundation year after year. This year, he is very involved with all of our school events, telling his story as well as our social media campaign.

We are grateful to Gal for his humble and meaningful contribution.

Renata Olvera

Renata has been one of Make-A-Wish Mexico's most devoted volunteers for the past four years, always willing and ready to support the rest of the team in many different ways. She has also been a key support in providing feedback to our main corporate sponsors, keeping them informed of how their funds have been spent. It is a pleasure visiting these sponsors with her once a year, to thank them for their support and to find new ways to keep them involved.

We at Make-A-Wish Mexico can only hope that we continue to find ways to attract this kind of wonderful talent and devotion for the continuous wellbeing of all the needy wish children we have in our country and in the world.

Janne Klittenborg Hansen

Janne is currently covering three "jobs" in Make-A-Wish Denmark. In Denmark, we have divided the country in 12 regions; each region has a region coordinator, and each coordinator has 6-28 volunteers (who assist with wishcapturing and granting). But the last year and a half, two coordinators left, so Janne filled in for these, because no one else wanted to step up to the plate.

Janne has been a considerable help to the team at Make-A-Wish Denmark, and is very passionate about Make-A-Wish's mission. In the picture here, Janne is on her way to assist with a child's wish to have a dog! Janne takes part in almost every wish granted by Make-A-Wish Denmark.

We are so grateful to have Janne as a part of our team!

Maria Silvia Aguilar

Dr. Maria Silvia Aguilar has been a volunteer since 2010. She has made a lot of interviews and fulfilled more than 100 wishes. She also trains new volunteers because she has good knowledge, commitment and passion for the mission.

View the Video Here.

Macarena Gajardo

Macarena has been a volunteer for 10 years. Today, she is a pediatrician, and her commitment as a volunteer includes coordinating a team of volunteers, coordinating interviewers for wishes and coordinating communications with the medical community. Through this work with the doctors, she promotes the spirit of Make-A-Wish. Macarena is a great leader in the team, and has made extensive presentations including the Chilean society of pediatrics.

Jennifer Ng

Jennifer joined Make-A-Wish Malaysia in 2015. Not knowing which role she would play, we asked her to tidy volunteers records and help recruit new ones. From her humble start, Jennifer has blossomed to help organise all our fundraising events, conduct volunteer training, capture wishes and prepare newsletters to become one of our valued donors. She even dressed as a man to complete a wish child’s Cinderella party, because she thought the crowd had too many women!

In the past few years, Jennifer has flown to Singapore to collect two teddy bears, imported beautiful Christmas decor from Hong Kong and obtained valuable sports memorabilia from a world-famous sportsman, all to help raise funds for us. Recently, Jennifer visited Make-A-Wish Hong Kong to offer advice on setting up their inaugural gala dinner - simply because she cares.

No meeting is too trivial for Jennifer. She is known to schedule her flights back to her home in Hong Kong after her work at Make-A-Wish Malaysia has been completed.

Wednesday is always a cheerful day in our office, as that’s the day Jennifer comes in, bringing along her signature smile and spring in her steps. Everyone at the office says she is a good listener, which makes her a valued member of our team.

Jennifer has a heart filled with kindness, laughter, empathy and diligence, and has truly made a positive impact in our affiliate.

Shu-Yuan Lai

Shu-Yuan was a mother of wish child in Make-A-Wish Taiwan. Because she totally understood and felt the power and impact of granting wish, she joined us as a volunteer in 2010. Her main mission is to help grant wishes and execute hospital visits.

Shu-Yuan has dedicated nearly 800 service hours to Make-A-Wish Taiwan. She always thinks the same way to service other children with critical illnesses and their family, as well. So far, she has taken part in almost 60 wish stories. In addition, Shu-Yuan has been interviewed by a radio program to introduce and increase the brand image of Make-A-Wish. She is the best endorser, indeed!

Gillian Go

Make-A-Wish Philippines nominates its volunteer, Gillian Go, for this award because of her exemplary performance and passion for the foundation. She is still a college freshman, yet she manages to balance college life with church and volunteer work. This year, to date, she has already helped four volunteer teams organize their wish grants, and has encourage friends and family to volunteer or grant wishes for Make-A-Wish Philippines. So far this year, she has helped with 21 Make-A-Wish Philippines events. She is always willing to give her time when we need her, and she does it with much enthusiasm and commitment - even though she has experienced some challenges along the way. Every time she is with a wish child, she is able to make them smile and respond - even the shyest ones. As her name suggest, there’s no stopping Gillian; she is always GO for anything for the foundation.

"I started volunteering for Make-A-Wish back in 2015, when I was in my sophomore year of high school. Since then, I’ve had my own fair share of my favorite experiences. My favorite would have to be every time I’m assigned to transportation, as I get the chance to meet the kid before everyone else. For some, being assigned that role can be a little too tedious because it requires a lot, but there is something about it that gives me so much satisfaction. I get to test waters and know how the wish kid behaves, how the wish kid would potentially act around a larger group of people, and I also get the chance to know more things about the wish kid. I also enjoy giving the sense of comfort and familiarity to the wish kid when they enter grants, because I know how overwhelming it can be. Sometimes, I see kids trying to look for me because I was the only familiar face they recognize, and something about that gives me a sense of fulfillment. Make-A-Wish has changed my life drastically because it taught me how to see my life in peripherals. I’ve always been one who stuck to mediocrity because for some time, mediocrity was my safe space. In Make-A-Wish, I learned that sticking to familiarity shouldn’t always be the case. I learned to immerse myself more into the things I’m passionate about and of course, to see life through the lenses of faith, hope and strength."

Phillip Tamplin

Phil Tamplin has been a volunteer since 2016. He has attended every challenge event in London to cheer on our runners and support them as they raise money and awareness to enable us to grant wishes – he helps the teams with anything that they need, including setting up cheer points and clearing away. His enthusiasm is infectious, which in turn creates a very energetic atmosphere among the other volunteers and gives the runners the lift they need to keep going.

Phil also volunteers at our special events, such as the Winter Ball where he is a trusted and reliable member of the team to lead other volunteers on tasks supporting our fundraising efforts.

Phil gives his time to talk about Make-A-Wish UK to schools and other groups, and is always willing to help out with any request. He was integral in presenting to and encouraging a Scouts group to get involved with our inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon event, our largest and most important half marathon event of the year, with 70 volunteers involved at a themed cheer point. His passion to help transform lives extends to wish participation – helping grant a child’s wish of a Peppa Pig party earlier this year. Phil was only too happy to offer his assistance and helped enroll his partner as a volunteer to come along with him. He worked tirelessly for the whole event, and brought along extra items for the wishgranter just in case they were needed, adding to the impact for the child and their family.

Phil is passionate about our organisation and very committed to his role. He raises awareness of Make-A-Wish UK wherever possible and is supportive of his volunteer colleagues, whilst encouraging them to get more involved in volunteering opportunities. He is a true ambassador for the organisation.

Rhiannon and Trudie Evans

Rhiannon and Trudie are volunteer wish visitors who visited Oskar, age 9, living with cancer in his spine. “Despite being visibly very sick, (he) was completely adorable and engaging, and held my hand as I sat on the sofa next to him” were the words they sent to us.

The only thing that was going to benefit Oskar was creating an outside space where he could sit in the shade, enjoy the sight and sound of some flowers and a water feature which he could enjoy putting his hands in to cool down.

Gardens can be challenging wishes, but Rhiannon and Trudie took this challenge on and proved to be amazing at doing it! Within less than two week’s Oskar’s wish had come true. The ladies rallied their local community and found people who were willing to help, from loaning a digger and their time free of charge, donating plants, and providing manpower for planting and painting. They secured discounts from local companies and gave all their spare time to this little boy who touched their hearts so much. They truly are a force of nature and this wish would not have happened had they not been willing and able to give their time, bring their community together and lend lots of elbow grease to make Oskar's wish of enjoying being outside with the air on his face, come true.

Only a couple of weeks after the wish, Oskar passed away. His parents invited Trudie and Rhiannon to his funeral as the wish had had such a positive impact on his well-being in his last days and one of the main topics at the occasion was Oskar's wonderful garden, which will leave a wonderful place for the family and friends to remember Oskar.

Susan Lott Bernava

From a very young age, Susan Lott Bernava has been deeply committed to charitable work in her community. It was in 2003 that she first heard of Make-A-Wish® and began her journey as a volunteer wish granter. Since then, Susan has been involved in close to 100 wishes and wish assists combined with the Toronto & Central Ontario chapter of Make-A-Wish® Canada.

“I’m very much a people person,” Susan says. “Volunteering with Make-A-Wish is the perfect fit for me because I love working directly with families. Many of these children have been through traumatic events and it feels great to be able to help them find the happiness they deserve.”

Susan shares the story of a 10-year-old girl she worked with recently, whose wish had an immediate impact. “She was very shy at first and couldn’t handle a lot of attention; however, once she returned from her wish trip, she had a newfound confidence. So much so that she went back to school and stood up in front of her class to speak about her wish and medical condition.”

Susan extends her passion for wish granting to those around her. She often works with local businesses to secure in-kind items for the wishes she works on, raising awareness and rallying support. Susan also attends local fundraising events, acting as an ambassador for Make-A-Wish.

In 2009, Susan was honoured by Make-A-Wish Canada with a Volunteer Spirit Award and in 2014 she was recognized with a Hope, Strength and Joy Award.

Over the years, Susan has had the pleasure of welcoming wish children from around the world, hosting kids on wish assists to visit one of Canada’s most spectacular natural wonders, Niagara Falls.

Electra

18-year-old Cassidy arrived in Greece along with her 14-year-old brother and her parents. Her deepest wish was to visit some archaeological sites and experience the history of Greece which she admired so much. Cassidy and her family came from San Diego traveling across half the planet to reach Greece. They landed on December 27th, 2017 and were welcomed by Make-A-Wish volunteer, Electra. The following day, Cassidy was admitted to the hospital where she received a blood transfusion; it was then that the doctors explained to Make-A-Wish's representatives that there was no hope for this amazing girl. She suffered from stage 4 liver cancer, and her illness was terminal. The news was first told to Electra, who had to help the parents understand the doctors’ words. Electra had to cancel all the scheduled excursions except for one.

Four days after her arrival to Greece, Cassidy fell into a liver coma. She was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and passed away on January 5th, 2018, surrounded by her parents, her brother and Electra. The country that she so dearly loved became the last stop in her life.

Electra was by Cassidy’s and her family’s side all this time, day and night. She didn’t mind that it was Christmas; she chose to become Cassidy’s soul mate, staying by her side for endless hours in the hospital, helping out and supporting the family in any way she could. She was the one who promised to her parents, who had to return to San Diego without Cassidy, that she would accompany their daughter’s coffin to the airport and make sure she would make it to her final trip back home.

View the Video Here.