A young boy met Santa at a Season of Wishes event in 2016. (submitted photo/Make-A-Wish Saskatchewan)

By Dawson Thompson

A Wish Come True

Make-A-Wish Saskatchewan receives large support for ‘Season of Wishes’ in Prince Albert

Nov 30, 2020 | 12:49 PM

The holidays are around the corner, bringing a time for giving and celebrating. At Make-A-Wish it is a time to support children’s wishes with the seasonal campaign, ‘Season of Wishes.’

This year, the campaign will receive extra support from the Prince Albert community, as local owner of Canadian Tire, Malcolm Jenkins will be matching all donations made to the Season of Wishes, up to $10,000. The fundraiser runs from Dec. 1 to 31.

According to the Regional Manager for Make-A-Wish Saskatchewan, Allyson Toye, they are planning to grant 15 wishes across Saskatchewan in the month of December. Each wish costs Make-A-Wish about $10,000.

There are 14 Make-A-Wish children in the Prince Albert area. Proceeds raised from the campaign will help grant wishes for two of those kids.

Due to the current pandemic, wishes are being restricted this year. Children are not able to travel to a dream destination or go meet a favourite person.

Raiders Awards Night

Rudolph named MVP during Raiders awards night

1h ago

POLICING

Sask. Mounties responded to fewer victims of family, intimate-partner violence in 2025

8h ago

"right to be worried"

Public servant 'scared' to retire due to problems with Phoenix pay system

12h ago

Examples of wishes children are able to make are shopping sprees for clothing, toys, and electronics, as well as spending time with their favourite animals such as horses, and puppies. Children are able to still make an ‘I-Wish-To-Meet’ request but are only able to do so virtually.

Toye added they had to cancel multiple fundraisers this year, resulting in the loss of over $300,000.

“COVID has had a huge impact on us,” Toye said. “We currently have 260 kids in Saskatchewan waiting for wishes, it is still a busy time for us working through the pandemic.”

Jenkins said this effort is all about giving back to the community at a time where it has been so difficult to raise funds.

“It’s very hard for all these good causes to raise money, they can’t get out there in the public and it is hard to keep things going,” Jenkins said. “They’re low profile, the only profile they have is when they do a fundraiser. Without those events to tie onto, where are they going to get funds from?

“We thought we would help them this way and give them a bit of a boost to help these kids, because they need help.”

To donate to Season of Wishes, visit the Make-A-Wish foundation website.

—

Dawson.thompson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: dawsonthompson8