Wishing a New Way

The Siena Wishmakers on Campus club had to rethink its Fall 2020 fundraising efforts for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York. Past campaigns, such as delivered pancake breakfasts, can drives and the like, were not going to work in the age of COVID-19.

So the club launched an online Wish Your Way fundraiser, with a lofty goal of $1,000.

“To be honest, though we always had a couple of fundraisers, we’d raise a couple of hundred dollars and that’s it,” said Lauryn Grugan, a Siena junior from East Greenbush in her second year as club president.

That is not what happened when the campaign launched Nov. 9.

“We made $1,000 in under an hour!” the 20-year-old said. “We raised $2,600 in 24 hours.”

By the end of the nine-day campaign, Siena Wishmakers on Campus raised $5,060 for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York.

“It was a big shock,” Grugan said.

As development manager for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York, Jen Cullen oversees Wishmaker on Campus programs. She said Siena’s campaign total was eye-opening, but added no one should be surprised by the generosity of the extended Saints community. The club’s efforts, she added, brought that fact to light.

“Wishmakers on Campus clubs usually do small events,” Cullen said. ”This year at Siena, they decided to up the ante. They have never done anything online before.”

Using Instagram as its base platform, the club encouraged members to reach out and share information on the campaign. (Extra inspiration: AirPods were awarded to the top fund raiser.) Emails were sent out to alumni, faculty and others.

“I think it’s definitely motivating that we see we can make this much of difference in such a short amount of time,” Grugan said. “It showed us that the community wants to get involved as well; parents and alumni and friends from other colleges not at Siena also donated.”

The club is already thinking about its next fundraiser. And, yes, it will be online.