Gaige Pike transformed into robot superhero with the help of local community leaders and Make-A-Wish®Central and Northern Florida.
ORLANDO, Fla., February 27, 2020–Make-A-Wish® Central and Northern Florida, a branch of the national organization dedicated to granting life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses, madeone 10-year old boy’s dream come true by becoming a super hero for the day. Today, Gaige Pike transformed into robot superhero, ROBOGaige, and worked with city officials in Orlando to save civilians in a staged bank robbery, building fire and collapsing building.
Pike was born with Neoplasms and underwent heart surgery this past year.Pike loves science, playing with robots and most importantly helping people. When asked by his wish granters at Make-A-Wish what he wishes upon, Pike specifically mentioned he wanted an opportunity to save someone as a robot superhero.
“At Make-A-Wish, no wish is too large or too small,” said Anne Cuba, President and CEO at Make-A-Wish®Central and Northern Florida. “Our goal is to bring a child’s imagination to life and show them that the impossible is possible. Today,our community has truly come together to help us fulfill that goal and grant Gaige’s wish.”
The day began with Pike, ROBOGaige, being sworn in by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as an honorary Sheriff for the day. Orange County SWAT team swooped in after a radio call informing ROBOGaige of a staged bank robbery taking place at the Orlando Federal Credit Union. ROBOGaige and the SWAT team took off in Bearcats to stop the robber in histracks.Orange County Fire Department then fired up their sirens and took ROBOGaige speeding through the city on a fire truck to save people from a staged fire and a collapsing building at Valencia Fire Rescue Institute.ROBOGaige closed out the day with a special ceremony just for him.
To learn more and find out how you can get involved, visit cnfl.wish.org and follow along with ROBOGaige’s adventures on Facebook at Make-A-Wish Central and Northern Florida and Twitter at MakeAWishCNFL.
About Make-A-Wish Make-A-Wish® creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We seek to bring every eligible child’s wish to life because a wish is an integral part of a child’s treatment journey. Research shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight their illness. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Make-A-Wish is the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization, serving children in every community in the United States and in more than 50 countries worldwide. Together, generous donors, supporters, staff and nearly 40,000 volunteers across the U.S., grant a wish every 34 minutes, on average, somewhere in the country. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 315,000 wishes to children in the U.S. and its territories; more than 15,600 in 2018 alone. For more information about Make-A-Wish America, visit wish.org.
Media Contact:
Lindsey Schooler
Director of Marketing & Community Engagement