Thompson Health’s 22nd Annual Holiday Bazaar raised more than $2,100 for the Sharon M. Pepper Wish Upon a Star Program.
Local businesses – including Wal-Mart, Wegmans and T.J. Maxx– donated items for the door prize drawings, for which more than 2,700 tickets were sold. Numerous vendors sold handmade quilts, jewelry, chocolate and other goodies at the Dec. 5 event as well.
Launched in 2010, Wish Upon a Star grants wishes of residents of the M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center, Thompson’s 188-bed skilled nursing facility. In 2013 alone, two dozen wishes were fulfilled. They included a video chat with a favorite movie star, a fishing trip on Canandaigua Lake, a performance at Eastman Theater, a visit to Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park and a family picnic on the beach. Another wish fulfillment, for a 104 year-old resident, made it possible for her to attend her great-granddaughter’s wedding at Keuka College’s Norton Chapel. Seven of the wishes fulfilled in 2013 were “butterfly wishes,” for residents receiving end-of-life care.
More wishes are in the process of being fulfilled, thanks to proceeds from the annual Holiday Bazaar and from community donations.
The 23rd Annual Holiday Bazaar is scheduled for Dec. 4, 2014. For more information, contact Debra Gardner at 585-396-6049.
Financial contributions to the Wish Upon a Star program may be sent to the F.F. Thompson Foundation, 350 Parrish St., Canandaigua, NY, 14424.