July 21, 2023
Molly Vergin is a rising senior in the Class of 2024, and she’s attended MPA since pre-Kindergarten. Molly is a two-time leukemia survivor, being initially diagnosed in first grade and then again in the final days of eighth grade. She’s just over two years out from a bone-marrow transplant and continuing her volunteer work with Make-a-Wish. MPA Seniors complete a service project as the culmination of their community service, and we’re happy to share some information from Molly with the MPA Community.
From Molly:
As I am approaching senior year (hard to believe!) I am beginning to work on my senior service project. For this project, I am continuing to work with an organization very close to my heart, Make-A-Wish Minnesota. As part of this, I will be leading a team at the Make-A-Wish Walk for Wishes on Saturday, August 5 at 10 AM at Minnehaha Regional Park. As most of you probably know, Make-A-Wish grants wishes for children with serious illnesses. The Walk for Wishes is a 5K with the goal of raising awareness for Make-A-Wish and funding future wishes. As a Wish Kid myself, I’ve seen the transformative impact that Make-A-Wish has on the children and families they serve, mine included.
In 2014, my wish was granted—to travel to LA to meet the cast of my favorite show, one I spent many hours in the hospital watching, The Amazing Race. My wish gave me something to look forward to–bringing me joy and excitement in a really rough time. The wish also helped bring our family together when our world had completely changed. I have volunteered and spoken for Make-A-Wish for the last eight years and I can say I am thrilled to support the organization through this year’s Walk for Wishes, and I hope that some of you would like to join me. There are two ways to do this—by visiting the Make-A-Wish Minnesota Walk for Wishes website, you can donate to a team participating in the walk and/or join us to participate in the walk. My team is named Team Molly, and my goal is to raise $5000 dollars for Make-A-Wish. This is a great opportunity to fund wishes for more children, and any amount helps!
- If you would like to walk with us on Team Molly, registration for the walk is $25. You can do that here. (This will take you to the Team Molly page. You choose the “SIGN UP” button which begins the registration process.) That $25 goes directly to Make-a-Wish MN, and it also gets you a t-shirt.
- If you are interested in making a donation, you can use this link. Donate to Make-a-Wish through Team Molly. (You will see a yellow “DONATE NOW” button near the top and/or a pink “DONATE” down next to Molly’s name).
Thank you so much to everyone for helping make Wishes come true for kids facing serious medical challenges. All donations go directly to Make-a-Wish MN to help fund future Wishes. In the photo included, I just learned my Wish had been granted. In the second, my sister Ellen ’21 and I are posing with the host of The Amazing Race, Phil Keoghan.
