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Make-A-Wish\u2019s Miami facility is impressive inside and out.<\/p>\n Make-A-Wish\u2019s Miami facility is impressive inside and out.<\/p>\n
While the most obvious impact of Make-A-Wish Southern Florida\u2019s Finker-Frenkel Wish House is on the Miami landscape, the most important is what has taken place inside the facility\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n
The 25,000-square-foot, five story building, which overlooks I-95 from the historic Overtown neighborhood, houses \u201cWishWorks,\u201d an interactive, multi-media experience created by a former Disney imagineer. Featuring leading-edge technology and effects, it has taken hundreds of critically ill children and families on a journey of discovery to determine a life-changing wish especially for them.<\/p>\n
Wish kids most often \u201cwish to be\u201d (something), \u201cwish to meet\u201d (someone), \u201cwish to go\u201d (somewhere), \u201cwish to have\u201d (something), or \u201cwish to give\u201d (to a cause) and Make-A-Wish fulfills the request for the child and their entire family at no cost or obligation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Finker-Frenkel Wish House is an opportunity for us to help children impacted by serious medical issues expand their imaginations and dream bigger than the reality they currently know, which is all too often dominated by doctors, treatments, and hospitals,\u201d said Norman Wedderburn, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. \u201cWishWorks takes their minds to other places and transforms the wish discovery process as they navigate their way through what we\u2019ve created.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to the opening of the \u201cwish house\u201d last year, volunteers would meet eligible kids and families in their homes to help determine the child\u2019s wish. While Make-A-Wish always has encouraged recipients to ask for anything \u2013 which often includes traveling to an exotic place, meeting a celebrity, or having a once-in-a lifetime experience \u2013 what they were finding was that some requests, like receiving a gift card, were reflective of those trapped by their circumstances and current environment. WishWorks, with its whimsical trip through a child\u2019s imagination, opens eyes and hearts to a world of possibilities.<\/p>\n
A privately funded capital campaign enabled Make-A-Wish Southern Florida to raise the dollars required to purchase land and build the facility without using funds generated to grant wishes. Being part of the revitalization of Overtown and Downtown in the largest city in its territory also were motivators to put down roots in the Magic City.<\/p>\n
While the glass facility is eye-catching and its impact significant, Wedderburn credits the nonprofit\u2019s donors and event attendees with generously funding its mission even while a capital campaign for the wish house was ongoing. It has enabled the chapter to directly or indirectly grant more than 900 wishes in its most recent fiscal year.<\/p>\n
The lion\u2019s share of those wishes are for medically eligible children in Southern Florida, but some are those whose wish experiences bring them into the chapter\u2019s territory (swimming with dolphins in the Florida Keys, for example), and others for chapters that may have more requests than the funding required to fulfill them. It all adds up to the local chapter having impact emanating from, but going far beyond, its base in Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n
Beyond hosting wish families, the building also provides event and office space for the chapter, and hosted other area nonprofits and groups focused on serving children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be a connector and do our part to make this a better community. If a meeting with others at our facility can spark ideas and form partnerships that can help us all maximize the impact that can be had, that\u2019s what we want to do,\u201d Wedderburn said.<\/p>\n
Make-A-Wish Southern Florida has granted more than 15,000 life-changing wishes since 1983 for children who have critical illnesses. It aims to grant a wish for every medically eligible child and understands wishes aren\u2019t just nice, they\u2019re necessary for kids and families during some of their most difficult times.<\/p>\n
To learn more about donating, referring a child, becoming a volunteer, or attending an event, visit www.wish.org\/sfla<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ABOUT US:<\/p>\n For more Miami community news, look no further than Miami Community Newspapers. This Miami online group of newspapers covers a variety of topics about the local community and beyond. Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers offers daily news, online resources, podcasts and other multimedia content to keep readers informed. With topics ranging from local news to community events, Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers is the ideal source for staying up to date with the latest news and happenings in the area.<\/p>\n This family-owned media company publishes more than a dozen neighborhood publications, magazines, special sections on their websites, newsletters, as well as distributing them in print throughout Miami Dade County from Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, South Miami, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Homestead. Each online publication and print editions provide comprehensive coverage of local news, events, business updates, lifestyle features, and local initiatives within its respective community.<\/p>\n Additionally, the newspaper has exclusive Miami community podcasts, providing listeners with an in-depth look into Miami\u2019s culture. Whether you\u2019re looking for local Miami news, or podcasts, Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers has you covered. For more information, be sure to check out: https:\/\/communitynewspapers.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you have any questions, feel free to email Michael@communitynewspapers.com<\/a> or Grant@communitynewspapers.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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