May 18, 2007

Holy angels -- it's a golf cart for nuns!

The Philadelphia Inquirer featured TWF on their front page today in a story called Prayer answered via a golf cart Scott Cummings and his wife went above and beyond in making this wish come true for the 56 retired nuns of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Now, frail and ailing retired nuns from the order are once again able to see the grounds of their home campus, visit family graves and enjoy the coming of spring together. Thank you everyone who helped to make this wish come true!

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May 17, 2007

Florda Chapter holds a fundraiser AND grants a wish on the same day


The weather was hot and muggy, (not untypical for Southwest Florida in May) but that did not stop anyone from having a great time at the first ever fundraiser for the Twilight Wish Foundation's FT. Myer's chapter. The event was sponsored and held at Encore Senior Village in Naples, FL and was attended by about 40 guests.

The food & wine were great in addition to excellent music that was supplied by Stu Shelton. Joni Corso, (Community Relations Coordinator) who orchestrated the entire event, went way beyond the "call of duty" in ensuring the evening would be a complete success. The decorations were elegant, and the auction baskets were fantastic with LOTS of goodies raffled off. Many people went home VERY happy with their winnings.

Helen Hunter, (Florida Regional Director for Twilight Wish Foundation) approached Joni, and the two ladies decided to put on the fundraiser to help with badly needed funding for the Florida chapter. With both Joni and Helen planning and executing this event, little was left to chance. I (Gene Petrucci) flew down to Florida to attend the event and to give a brief presentation of Twilight Wish Foundation accompanied by a 7 min. slide show. I will tell you that I was duly impressed with every aspect of the event and if this is any indication of future fundraisers in Florida, Twilight Wish is going to be able to do a LOT OF GOOD in the Sunshine state, (which also happens to have the highest percentage of people over 65 - 19% - then any other state).

Speaking of doing good things, Helen and Joni added a special bonus to the night by actually granting a wish at the same time! A women named Denise (77) wanted some dental work to correct some past mistakes by a dentist she used that left her unable to smile or even eat properly. Her wish was requested by her co-worker Jackie, and the wish was kept secret until the night of the fundraiser. Denise thought she was just accompanying Jackie to an event and was totally shocked when Jackie was asked to stand up and to say a few words. Jackie then started to talk about a remarkable woman she worked with, and all the nice things that this woman did for others. Jackie finished up by saying that this woman had a wish for new dentures and that Twilight Wish Foundation was going to make it happen. At that point, Jackie pointed to Denise and said "Surprise!". Denise was overcome and could not stop crying for a long while. Dr. Joel Shapses, DDS, offered to do the work at no charge and was also on hand for the festivities.

The generous donations by all those in attendance resulted in $1,000 raised for the Florida chapter. Joni said that she plans on making this event a yearly fundraiser for Twilight Wish Foundation and next year's will be even BIGGER!

The picture above shows Denise, (in floral print dress second from left) standing next to Jackie (directly to the left of Denise). Next to Jackie is Helen, (white skirt) and to Helen's left is Dr. Shapses (on extreme left). The other two people in the photo are co-workers of Dr Shapses.

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