GRANTING WISHES AND SMILES

Make-a-Wish benefit nabs $118,000 for 15 wishes

The atmosphere was so jolly at the seventh annual Evening of Wishes that speakers struggled to be overheard, but when country singer Justin Moore pulled out his guitar pick and leaned into the mic, the house settled down and everyone was reminded of why they were there.

The Nov. 30 Evening of Wishes, a fundraiser for the Mid-South chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, raises money to help fund wishes for children diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition. The chapter's largest annual fundraiser, conducted at the Albert Pike Masonic Center, raised a record-breaking $118,000, up $14,000 from last year and enough to grant 15 new wishes, said Amanda Wiig, communications manager for Make-a-Wish Mid-South. Each wish costs about $8,000. The chapter's goal is to grant 268 wishes in the organization's current fiscal year to children in west Tennessee, north Mississippi and Arkansas.

The night's "featured guest" was Logan Kirksey, who is battling Ewing sarcoma through treatment from a clinical trial. Moore is a friend and neighbor to Logan's family, thus the connection to the event and to the cause. "I've always said if you put a smile on someone's face, you not only change their day, you change their life," Moore said. Logan's wish is to go to Australia.

Sisters Dawn Bailey and Lorey Phillips were co-chairmen of the event. Todd Hillman took home the 2016 Mary Ann Dawkins Wish Star Award. Some 300 people attended.

-- Story and photos by Cyd King

High Profile on 12/11/2016

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