Table of Contents
Our Team | Year in Review | Mahalo | Forever in Our Hearts
Aloha Wish ‘Ohana,
You’ve surely heard the adage, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” For many of us, this advice became particularly relevant in 2020, when life as we knew it changed dramatically. We stayed home, isolated from friends and family. We worried about our loved ones. We watched as a devastating illness overtook so much of the world. And yet we kept pushing through, finding joy in the moments spent with those closest to us, taking time to reflect on what is truly important, and being grateful for all that we still had—making lemonade out of lemons.
For our wish families, it doesn’t take a pandemic. They feel these emotions year-round—when their child receives a diagnosis and life seems to shift to an alternate reality, when play dates are traded for hospital stays and a ‘normal’ childhood is replaced with a taxing treatment plan, when once-carefree moments spent together are now tinged with uncertainty and fear. Time and time again, however, our wish families make lemonade. They pause. They reflect. They create and experience joy. And they let us into their lives.
We don’t have a Make-A-Wish lemonade stand on the corner run by eager children (although how cute would that be?!), but we really are in the business of making lemonade—of taking the worst lemons a child could be given and finding something sweet to stir in, an ingredient that changes everything: a wish.
This year, thanks to you, we made some of the sweetest lemonade in our history. After the pandemic halted wish travel and distanced wish granters from wish families, our entire wish community came together. Volunteers met with their wish children over Zoom and FaceTime, local supporters from all walks of life shared their talents and raised funds in a virtual talent show, donors made their gifts early and stepped in when we needed it most, businesses created campaigns that benefited wish kids—the list goes on. Because of your generosity, innovation, and commitment to hope, life-changing wishes in Hawaii never stopped.
We hope you’ll see the far-reaching impact of your partnership in this year’s first-ever Make-A-Wish Hawaii online annual report.
Mahalo for making lemonade with us.
Much Aloha and Best Wishes,
Trini Kaopuiki Clark Jeff Higashi
President and CEO Board Chair