CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Cabell County teenager will get her wish to celebrate her 16th birthday on a Caribbean cruise with her family this summer.
Hannah, a Huntington girl who has cancer, is one of the young people in the Mountain State who will benefit from a $7,500 grant courtesy of the Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia for Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“I am so incredibly grateful for your generosity that you’ve shown all of us kids,” Hannah said via video during a Tuesday check presentation at the state Culture Center in Charleston.
Make-A-Wish works to fulfill the wishes of children with life-threatening conditions.
“We could not do this work without donors such as Trusted Choice and others in the community who support us,” said Jo Beth Smith, southern West Virginia regional manager for Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“It allows us to spend time working on the wish and thinking about positive things that we can do with the family
The $7,500 grant is part of a national commitment Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia makes to support local Make-A-Wish chapters each year.
“We have a remarkable opportunity to give back to children who are in need who are in our area,” said Terri Dodrill, president of IIAWV.
“What you can see in any child’s face or their eyes or their family, to have that kind of opportunity when all likelihood is they’ve had a pretty tough road before they get to a presentation like this, it is joyous.”
At any given time, between 550 and 650 wishes are pending with Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia.