It was nice to see so many faces at The Pirates House on Friday.  Alan Fleming was awarded his Blue Badge for completing all his Red Badge requirements - congratulations Alan!  The club also had the opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to Eric Meyerhoff over the phone.  Eric turned 90 last week and members did not want to let his birthday pass by without singing to him.  Once all Rotary business items were discussed, Mel Mrochinski introduced our speaker for the day - Meghan Lowe with Make-A-Wish Georgia.  
 
Meghan began by showing a video of a little boy named Zayden whose wish was to go to space.  Make-A-Wish says they can grant any wish as long as it doesn't include guns or hunting.  And although Zayden didn't actually launch into space, they were able to create a wish that came as close to space as possible.  The mission of Make-A-Wish is that together we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illness.  They believe a single wish can transform a life and have been told by recipients and their families that the wish improved their mindset which had a great impact on healing and recovery.  97% see an increase in mental well being.  Children can range in age from 2-19 years old.  There are four different types of wishes: wish to go (the most popular), wish to have, wish to meet, and wish to be.  
 
Every dollar raised in Georgia stays in Georgia.  Make-A-Wish Georgia is a 501(c)3 organization.  They have granted nearly 8000 wishes since the chapter was started.  Over half of the children are facing cancer.  The current state pipeline for wishes is 1000 children with 52 of those wishes pending here in the Savannah area.  Each wish is approximately $10,000.  On May 10th, Make-A-Wish Georgia will be hosting a Run for Wishes at Skidaway Island State Park.  Money raised will go to granting a child in Savannah a wish in June.  If you would like to learn more about the fundraiser, please visit https://runsignup.com/Race/GA/Savannah/SavannahWalkforWishesand5k10k15kRun