Organization: Bianca’s Kids
Approved Grant (through donor-advised fund): $250
Use of Grant: This grant was used to sponsor a wish through a noteworthy organization called Bianca’s Kids. They had received a letter from the mother of a child who has pancreatic deficiency, which in part stated:
“Dear Bianca’s Kids, due to failure to thrive & pancreatic deficiency, Fletcher must wear his gtube. We would like to be able to take Fletcher to the Build-a-Bear in Roanoke (1 hr away from us) and have a special day for him to build a bear with a gtube button added to his bear so he would have a stuffed animal just like him. He often touches his button and knows it is different when looking at others. We would like him to be able to have something special to cuddle that looks just like him.”
Of the $250 grant, $100 was gifted to Fletcher and his family to go to “Build-A-Bear”, along with whatever accessories he wanted, including a gtube. $50 provided transportation funds for him and his family, and $100 was provided for a nice family dinner.
Additional information, along with a photo, can be found at:
Additional Notes: We had stumbled upon Bianca’s Kids after doing research on various “make a wish” organizations. We are impressed that Bianca’s Kids is an all-volunteer endeavor, and does not have the bloated overhead that exist in some other non-profits specific to this area. Also their style of posting each granted wish and its impact on their website is similar to the approach we incorporate, and so thought it would be a worthy organization to support.