Volunteer raises more than $20k
Judy Moulton, Volunteer Wish Granter and Fundraiser
East Charleston, Vermont
Volunteer Judy Moulton Raises $20k for Wishes
A tradition of sharing stories and gathering support
"Back when I started working with Make-A-Wish, seemed hardly anyone in my town knew about them." So Judy set out to change that. She wrote a letter to all her friends, explaining the work done by Make-A-Wish, talking about the sick kids she personally was working with, and the difference she could see a Wish making in each of their lives.
Over the years, friends have begun supporting Judy’s Wish Granting work by donating to Make-A-Wish Vermont and her annual letter turned into a successful fundraising campaign.
Judy began involving a local group of middle- and high-schoolers who took up the yearly charge and organized themselves to raise as much as they could to help make Wishes come true.
Matching donation adds momentum to Judy's fundraising efforts
In the fall of 2020, an anonymous Make-A-Wish Vermont donor heard about Judy's grassroots effort and was moved to create a matching grant: If Judy could raise $10,000, they pledged to double it.
By then, Judy’s mailing list had grown to more than 100 recipients. She included photos of her Wishes from the year, and some very special personal news as well: Her husband, Ronald, is in remission from stage three cancer. Wrote Judy: "2020 wasn't a good year for many, but it was good to us.”
Judy organized other Wish Granters to write their own letters for support, galvanized the local kids to lead bake sales and other local efforts, and more. Whatever she could think up to raise money for Wishes, she did, and bit by bit she accumulated the needed $10k to trigger the match, and then some.