On a beautiful Saturday in May, the Marblehead community came together in a big way to support children in the community. May 3 was declared Make-A-Wish Day in Marblehead, Massachusetts, thanks to a campaign led by a local business owner in partnership with the nonprofit.
Caroline Craig, a Marblehead resident, is the Community Partnerships Coordinator for Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Early this year, Craig visited Mud Puddle Toys to introduce the idea of working together on a fundraiser to benefit the nonprofit’s mission of granting life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. The store’s owner, Cassie Sturdivant, was immediately on board. Coincidentally, Sturdivant’s friend, Ashley Hill, also a Marblehead resident, has a daughter awaiting a wish from the organization.
Sturdivant rallied other small business owners, eventually getting over two dozen on board to participate in fundraising efforts that launched on May 3 and ran through the month of May. Sturdivant also launched a co-branded Mud Puddle and Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island teddy bear that is sold at the store, with proceeds benefitting the local charity. Through the efforts tied to the campaign, over $5,800 has been raised to date.
Make-A-Wish Day began with a Walk & Roll For Wishes, hosted by the Marblehead Police Department and Marblehead High School Interact Club. Residents gathered at Seaside Park and completed a 2.9 mile course in honor of wish kids, followed by refreshments and games.
Mud Puddle Toys hosted an open house style party that afternoon, with raffles and activities inside and refreshments and arts and crafts on the sidewalk. Highlights included a kids yoga class taught by Rachel Perella from the Yoga Loft Marblehead, Storytime with Miss Debbie, and music with Music by Dara. After town spokesperson, Moses Grader, Marblehead Select Board member read a proclamation officially declaring Make-A-Wish Day, the culmination of the day was a wish reveal. Local resident Sophia Triscuit, 9, was surprised with the news that her wish to have a backyard treehouse will be granted by Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island this summer. Triscuit, daughter of Hill, lives with a rare, life-threatening disease called VACTERL Association with microtia. Since she is unable to spend the night at friends’ houses due to her medical needs, she wished to have a treehouse where she can have “sleepovers under the stars” with her friends.
For Sturdivant, it was a full-circle moment and an opportunity to see her hard work in planning the day result in joy for a young girl who has faced so much.
“I was so pleased—though not surprised—by the huge community turnout for Sophia and our other Wish Kids in town,” says Sturdivant. “Marbleheaders always step up when there’s a need! After wondering for quite some time how I could best support the children from our store community who become critically ill, kids we know and care deeply about, this partnership with Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a dream come true. I feel so honored by this opportunity, and humbled by the turnout for these special kids and their families.”
Participating local businesses included Shubies, Willie Shaker Art Gallery, Mookies, Arnould Gallery, Tory’s Jewelry, Marblehead Bank, Hip Baby Gear, Hunt and Gather, Spotted Hound, Liberty Henry and Me, Saltwater Books, Marblehead Outfitters, The Landing, The Abbey Studio, The Beacon and the Warwick Cinemas, Manhattan Sandwich Company, The Fuller Family, and The Power of Speech, Grace Church.
“When local businesses come together to support wish kids, the results are inspiring,” says Craig. “The Mud Puddle team has rallied those around them so that together, we can bring essential hope and strength to children living with critical illnesses. As a Marblehead resident, I’m so proud of this community and can’t wait to see the joy that their wishes give Sophia and the other local wish kids.”
To learn more about Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island, visit wish.org/massri.