Make-A-Wish Northeast New York Wins National Best Wish Award

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Nov. 7, 2022) — Make-A-Wish Northeast New York is the 2022 recipient of Make-A-Wish^® America’s highest award for wishes, the Wish Innovation Award. The award recognized the wish of Esmé Savoie of Troy, a non-verbal child whose wish to be the subject of a museum exhibit resulted this past spring in a multimedia art show.

The Wish Innovation Award honors “chapters that have used exceptional creativity, imagination and innovation to fulfill the one true wish of a child.” The national foundation, comprised of 58 chapters, presented the award at its just-concluded annual Leadership Conference, held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort outside of Orlando.

The exhibit at The Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, titled "Esmé’s Stories: A Magical Journey,” drew its inspiration from autobiographical tales sprinkled with fantasy penned by the 11-year-old.

Born with intractable epilepsy and a genetic gene mutation that impact her ability to speak, walk and eat, Esmé used eye gaze technology to write her stories. These short stories start out recounting her true adventures — going on a surfboard and dogsledding, for example — then take wondrous turns.

“When she wished for an ‘Esmé Museum,’ it was the first time Ez used communication to share a creative vision of how she wanted something to be, and from there, with the support of her communication team, her creativity exploded,” wish mom Hillary Savoie said.

For the exhibit, curated by Belinda Colon, at the time the center’s curator of exhibitions and public art, Esmé’s writing was transformed into sculpture and song by local artists, punctuated by other media.

“It is an immense honor for our chapter to receive this prestigious award,” said Make-A-Wish Northeast New York CEO William C. Trigg, III. “It affirms Esmé’s beautiful imagination and creativity, and the importance we place on making wishes come true for non-verbal children.”

Mark McGuire, the chapter’s director of marketing and communications, produced the media for the wish, and served as one of Esmé’s volunteer wish granters along with Ray Gawlak.