Make a Wish. I did.

Sometimes people disappoint me. Sometimes they amaze me. Today I was amazed.

I logged onto my computer this morning to find the following email from my old work colleague and friend from Toronto, Danica, (Krista is her sister):

How are things out West? Gearing up for the games I bet! Listen…favour….Krista works for Make a Wish and if you click on the link below you’ll see why I’m emailing you. These poor kids and families have had things turned upside down. As you know work doesn’t really have connections at hotels in Van….but if there is one person who I know in Van and who might be able to direct/help Krista it’s you. Any direction/advice/help you can offer her would be much appreciated. I’ve cc’d her on this email.
Chat soon babe….and thanks!

I responded with:
Hi D! (Hi Krista!),
I saw this on the news last night and it absolutely broke my heart. I honestly don't have a lot of pull in the hotel business, but that being said, I will spread the word and send the info off to the few people I know. Good luck!

I then sent out this email to my contact list:
Yesterday, the Norwegian Star cruise ship announced that they were cancelling plans to provide accommodations during the games, and because of this 13 terminally ill children and their families who had planned to come to the games with the help of the Make a Wish Foundation, now have nowhere to stay. A friend of mine works for the Make a Wish Foundation in Toronto and she emailed me this morning asking if I had any corporate connections that could assist with this. Unfortunately I really don’t, but I thought the least I could do was help spread the word. If you know anyone that may be able to help, please pass this on to them.

The response was incredible! I got dozens of emails from people offering up their own places for these families, (unfortunately it has to be a hotel due to legal and insurance reasons), and even more from people saying they would pass it on to their contacts at the Hyatt, Fairmont, Ramada, Coast, Westin etc… Plus my g/f (anchor & reporter for a national news show) was going to do a story on it for tonight's news. At the end of the day, after many leads, hotel rooms for all the kids and their families had been found by Jet Set Sports, a firm affiliated with the Games.

I’m not sure how the two companies got connected, and I doubt it was through me, but the point is, I was only one person that sent out an email. I’m sure there were many others, and somehow the forces aligned and we were all able to make this happen. And by “we” I mean everyone that had any part of this, even people that were just sending positive thoughts. This news was amazing and heart warming. It’s so great to see how people can pull together in a time of need. Danica’s final email to me today was: Just goes to prove that when the chips are down the goodness of people really does shine through. At the end of the day most people do care. And Krista followed up with: Certainly a proud day to be Canadian...the support was overwhelmingly awesome! People are so kind!!!! :)

If you’re not familiar with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Canada, they are an amazing organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. My friend, Angelo was granted a wish several years ago, when he was a teenager stricken with Cancer; he was flown to New York City to meet his basketball idol, Allen Iverson. He ended up beating the Cancer, but the memories of his Make a Wish trip are always with him.
Thanks so much to everyone that took the few minutes needed to forward my email or any other information they may have had.
Today, I really like people.

By the way, the Foundation is always looking for donations and volunteers. Just so you know. ;-)