Swishes for Wishes nets $3600 for child in need

On Jan. 17, during the varsity boys basketball team’s highly anticipated matchup against the Westside Warriors, Swishes for Wishes took the court at halftime to help raise funds and sponsor a young child named George in fulfilling his Make-a-Wish dream. The Titans would go on to win against the Warriors, 70-52, with Bryson Bahl contributing with 25 points and 15 rebounds, Levi Webb and Jayden Herrera with 11 points, and Reece Kircher with 12 points and 6 assists.

Make-A-Wish is an organization and foundation dedicated to granting life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses. Make-A-Wish gives these children the chance to experience something joyful and fulfilling during some of the toughest times of their lives. Abigail Weyermuller, lead Student Council officer working on the “Swishes for Wishes” project, talked about the goals for this year’s campaign.

“This year, we partnered with Make-A-Wish to sponsor … George. He’s 6 years old, and he has a terminal brain tumor. His wish is to go to Florida and see the beach, play putt-putt at this kid’s world of fun place, and we wanted to help make that happen for him.”

“We’ve raised about $3,600 dollars so far,” Weyermuller said. “Our goal is about $5,000. We’ll have more events that’ll hopefully raise more money. Some events for that are the daddy-daughter dance and selling roses for Valentine’s Day. Even if we don’t raise enough money, it’s not the end of the world…. Make-A-Wish is so much more than just high-school-sponsored. They definitely have the money and resources. We just try to help out.”

When asked about how this could affect the student body, Weyermuller said, “I hope it raises awareness, because a lot of times, we’re in this ‘safe bubble’ and things like that don’t affect anything. Or people don’t really see how terrible it is for someone to have to deal with this and deal with growing up. So I think having people know about it is powerful, and I hope it leads people to give more in the future – because it’s not about anyone in particular, it’s about something bigger than oneself,” Weyermuller said.

When asked how this had affected her personally, Weyermuller said, “Personally, I’ve lost family members before, and it’s really cool getting to make something come true for somebody. I feel like it’s criminal that kids have to deal with cancer … so I think it’s really powerful and amazing to be able to do this for especially young kids. … It’s pretty incredible how it’ll impact not only that kid’s life, but the family around them, because going through cancer treatment can be really hard, especially for someone really young.”

Weyermuller encouraged others to join the cause: “If you’re in a club and you want to reach out to Make-A-Wish and do sponsoring for it, I know Make-A-Wish has websites and other resources. You can always donate wherever you want or just donate at the events that we have set up. I think we’ll raise awareness that some of the events we’re planning for this semester are also going to George.”