This month, Make-A-Wish North Texas is excited to highlight wish-granting volunteer Meredith Kimmel! Meredith got connected with Make-A-Wish in the summer of 2019, working in our Lubbock office as a Program Services intern. Throughout that internship, she worked directly with wish families, guiding them through the Make-A-Wish process and ultimately helping to grant their wishes! After her internship ended, she wanted to continue making a difference and kept volunteering with us as a wish granter. Wish granters are trained individuals who meet with our children to determine their one true wish, and they are vital to our mission!

Meredith loves meeting new wish families and seeing the parts and pieces of a wish come together.

“Granting wishes is my favorite part of my week. Being able to talk to my wish kids and their families is so heart-warming. Knowing that I am a small fraction of making their wish come true is so fulfilling,” she shared.

She’s always had a heart for helping children and enjoys learning about what brings them joy while they deal with the ups and downs that come with having a critical illness. She and her wish-granting partner Becky have worked with more than 70 children.

“Becky is a huge reason why I keep coming back to volunteer with Make-A-Wish. She is an incredible inspiration to me and my ‘why’ story. Though we have only met via Facetime and Zoom, we work so well together, and I am so grateful for our wish-granting relationship," she said.

Meredith has helped grant so many wishes in the last two years, but one wish in particular sticks out in her mind.

“Diondra’s wish was my very first in-person wish to grant. The love and graciousness I felt when delivering Diondra’s wish items to her was unparalleled. The family was so grateful for the time I had given to Diondra and her wish, and it reminded me of why it is so easy for me to give so much of my time and energy to these kids and their families,” she expressed.

When Meredith isn’t granting wishes, she works as a preschool teacher at the Texas Tech University Child Development Research Center. Outside of work, she loves playing with her Australian shepherd puppy, Boone, and going to Texas Country music concerts.

Want to help grant wishes with volunteers like Meredith? Sign up now!