Granting wishes from Israel to Australia
THE CEO of Make-A-Wish Israel is in Australia for a visit designed to raise funds and awareness for both the Australian and Israeli affiliates of the global charity which grants wishes to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
THE CEO of Make-A-Wish Israel is in Australia for a visit designed to raise funds and awareness for both the Australian and Israeli affiliates of the global charity which grants wishes to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
Denise Bar-Aharon was last week in Melbourne, where she visited schools, attended events at private homes, and addressed communal groups. She will arrive in Sydney for a similar program today (August 11).
Speaking to The AJN from Israel, Bar-Aharon said she hopes to raise awareness of the special work Make-A-Wish does.
“I want to also explain to the Australian community what differentiates us a little bit in Israel. Besides being one of the many 38 affiliates around the world, we have some challenges as Israelis that other countries don’t have,” she said.
“This last summer when we were in the hospital, or in a child’s home asking them what their greatest wish was, air raids went off because of [Operation] Protective Edge … It was fascinating to say “here we are at a child’s home, they’re fighting for their life, and a war is going on, and we’re all running to the bomb shelters.” It makes it a little bit different from other countries.”
Bar-Aharon and husband Avi founded Make-A-Wish Israel in memory of her late brother David Spero, who died tragically from cancer at age 29.
“[We] really wanted to do something in his memory. And I knew about the Make-A-Wish foundation from growing up in the United States. I said, “this is something I’d like to bring to Israel. And that was 20 years ago,” Bar-Aharon recalled.
Instrumental in making this trip a reality has been Stephen Sharp, a former chair of Make-A-Wish Australia, who met Bar-Aharon initially at an international conference. When visiting Israel with his family last year, Sharp met with the Bar-Aharons again, and raised the prospect of a visit.
“I think it helps when you understand the wide-reaching nature of Make-A-Wish that you get to see and hear some of the fabulous stories, not only in our own community, but those being achieved in every other country where Make-A-Wish runs – and Israel is no exception,” Sharp told The AJN.
“They’ve just got some fabulous stories and fabulous examples of the transformational nature of the wish process.”
PHOEBE ROTH
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