Iowa City is home to the Iowa Hawkeyes’, creators of vibrant art, and a prestigious healthcare system that sets itself apart from other cities. The city boundaries hold business owners, community leaders, students, university faculty, health care workers, artists, nonprofits, and everyone in between.

It is a diverse community that continues to grow and thrive. Also living within the city limits is a Make-A-Wish microcosm like no other. The Make-A-Wish Iowa mission has indefinitely planted roots in Iowa City and blossomed into a culture of care for children fighting critical illnesses.

JoDee Stensland has been appointed Make-A-Wish Iowa’s board chairperson, the nonprofit group announced. Stensland, vice president senior lead at Wells Fargo Bank in Des Moines, has been a member of the executive committee on the board of directors since 2018.

As her mother knelt down and explained that the bubblegum-pink fishing boat in the parking lot was for her, the look on little Hallie Koenigs' face turned from confusion to excitement.

She began jumping up and down, stopping only to run toward her new boat. Family and volunteers cheered as she inspected the bright pink vinyl wrap, emblazoned with the boat's name, "Hallie's Wish."

Few things in life are as bright as Connor Brokaw’s smile when he sees the Fort Dodge Fire Department roll down his street with a fire truck and ambulance.

The 10-year-old beamed with excitement on Saturday afternoon as Engine 5 and Medic 3 stopped by with firefighters to give him a big send-off for his family’s trip to St. Louis with Make-A-Wish Iowa.

An Eastern Iowa youth is the seventh child to be granted a wish by The Make-A-Wish Foundation through donations collected at Lindale Mall.

Lindale Mall, 4444 First Ave. NE, has been collecting donations since 1999 for Make-A-Wish, nonprofit that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages 2 and 18. It took five years for the mall to collect enough money to grant a wish from coins thrown into the mall’s Make-A-Wish fountain. The current average cost of a wish in Iowa is $15,000.

Rhythm City Casino is proud to announce the success of our Donate & Play Promotion for Make-A-Wish Iowa! Through the generous donations of our incredible guests, we were able to present a check to Make-A-Wish for $36,500 to help make the wishes of kids in need come true!

"I wanted to have something different, but then I also wanted something that I was going to use a lot and would last a while," Stanton said. "In a family that is my size, 11 people, I kind of wanted my own space and I also wanted a place that I could hang out with friends if I wanted to, but then also have a place to get away."

Since 1986, Make-A-Wish® Iowa has been providing moments of joy and glimmers of hope for families coping with critical illnesses. With 300 volunteers spread across all of the state’s 99 counties, the organization has granted more than 4100 wishes. While COVID has changed the nature of wishes in recent years, the opportunity to look forward to something – and to remember happy times – has remained unchanged.

Every kid dreams of having a cool clubhouse: somewhere to hang out with friends, have sleepovers and make memories that will last a lifetime.

On Sunday, one Iowa child had that dream come true thanks to a little help from the community. For 11-year-old Ben Kline of Clive, the big reveal was two years in the making.

Families were all smiles Friday night as the opening of the Jolly Holiday Lights in Altoona marks the unofficial start to the Christmas season.

"It gets the kids cheerful so that gets us super excited," said Brooke Sage, a mother of three.