Another successful weekend for Make-A-Wish event
It was a tough ask.
Hold what is supposed to be a once-a-year fundraiser twice, just six months apart – and during a global pandemic.
This challenge proved to be no problem for organizers, sponsors and the community, who stepped up to make the annual Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia fundraiser another success.
As of press time, financial donations were expected to once again reach six figures, according to event organizer Sherri Keller. Last year’s event raised $110,000 and funded 25 wishes in York and Adams counties.
“Last year we had to move the event from May to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Keller said. “We needed to continue to raise funds as kids were still getting sick, and money needed to be in place when all restrictions are lifted. The struggle was having another convoy just six months later. We really had to ask our sponsors to step up, and they did. The community really supported us too.”
The fundraiser, which started two decades ago and raised $6,000 that first year, has grown into a weekend-long event featuring golf, a motorcycle ride and the truck convoy for wishes.
The golf portion of the event was held at Bridges Golf Course and included a tournament, contests, dinner and awards ceremony. The kickoff motorcycle ride included 58 bikes with all proceeds donated to Make-A-Wish in memory of Amy Miller, who was granted her Hawaii wish in 2008. Sunday’s convoy, which took place at Battlefield Harley-Davidson in Gettysburg, Pa., was made up of 138 trucks, hundreds of volunteers and a crowd of approximately 2,000 spectators.
“This event is the largest fundraiser for our local Make-A-Wish chapter,” Keller said. “The first convoy 20 years ago had 12 trucks and has now grown into a weekend of events. It was amazing to see everyone having fun and working for one goal, to raise as much as possible for our local kids to get wishes granted.”
There’s also an added meaning for Keller, who talked about a strong personal connection she and her family have to the trucking industry.
“It has a personal meaning for me as my dad was a long-distance truck driver,” Keller said. “Each year he would come to the convoy and share trucker stories with the drivers. I never knew this until he passed and the drivers told me they would miss his old trucking stories. Dad would always say he was just a truck driver, but I wanted a way to show how special truckers were while raising funds for the kids.”
Sunny skies, lots of smiles and providing help for kids who need it, made the weekend that much more memorable, said Keller.
Headquartered in Pittsburgh with seven regional offices, Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia grants wishes in 57 counties in western, central and northeastern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. To date, this convoy has raised $1.49 million and funded 382 wishes.
Mother’s Day tradition continues
Weather conditions were less than ideal, but that did little to slow driver participation in what has become a Lancaster County, Pa., tradition.
The Make-A-Wish Philadelphia, Delaware & Susquehanna Valley held its annual truck convoy to raise money in order to grant wishes in south central Pennsylvania. The event, which set a fundraising goal of $300,000, featured 100 big rigs departing from Manheim Pennsylvania Auto Auction in Manheim, Pa.
Because of COVID-19, the event was not open to the public like it had been in previous years. However, a livestream on Facebook featured interviews, footage of the trucks departing, and a special view from inside a top 30 driver’s truck. LL