I have some Wish Stories that I would like to share with you. You and your teams collective efforts from your event was in a word “wonderful”. We allocated your funds towards many wishes over the holidays that we have completed. Christmas being the most wonderful time of the year is also for our Make-A-Wish children the time of most need.  In the end of it all be very proud of your accomplishments in 2008. It was huge. Please feel free to pass them along to the group so they also can feel the “MAGIC” they collectively created or the kiddies we serve.

Because some wishes can’t wait for someday.

I have one question for your group. Is there anything a moustache can’t do?

Below are 4 stories of completed wishes during the holidays.

Raphael

A shy 5 year old boy, who has Retinoblastoma, was overwhelmed by his wish for a shopping spree at Toys-R-Us just in time for Christmas.

Raphael and his entire family were picked up at home by a limo and driven to the Toys-R-Us store where he was met by the store mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe. He was escorted around by family and very friendly employees who helped the children pick toys and games. Before heading back home with a jammed packed limo he was whisked away to his favourite restaurant. Raphael ended his “wish day” very content and wearing a big smile!

Raphael’s mom was overwhelmed: «It was a very exciting experience with our kids and having their Christmas wishes fulfilled. We had never dreamed that we could have a limo ride! On behalf of my family, we thank you for all the things you have given us, what you gave was more that what we were expecting.»

Henry

Henry is a very personable 11 year boy suffering from a brain tumour who asked for nothing but an IPOD Classic. Imagine out of anything he could wish for this was it.We at Make-A-Wish always love to what we call ” enhance” the wish. So when the Wish Grantors arrived with all the extra goodies they couldn’t wait to see his expression .Henry was so very grateful for the numerous other “gadgets” given to him by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario that it was overwhelming.

His shy demeanour disappeared quickly and our visit with Henry became very educating and interesting as he shared his great knowledge about all of the games and electronics we brought.

Another happy child with a great big smile at the end of his “wish day”!

Riley’s Wish ( another type of Wish we do )

We received a call just before Christmas from one of our social Workers that directly work with the families in need. She told us about 12 Year Old Riley, who suffers from a brain tumour along with other medical issues. In these cases were time is at an essence we act very quickly. These type of wishes are our hardest wish emotionally we have to do at Make-A-Wish and we refer to them as “A RUSH WISH “  We asked the father what are Riley’s likes and what does he think his son needs at this time in his life. The dad told us things like Riley loves Hockey! The dad also relayed to us about other needs at home that Riley could use. With this information we jumped at the chance to do what we could. Since his condition hasn’t allowed him to travel far from home, the Make-A-Wish of Eastern Ontario, decided that we could bring his wish to him. We bought Riley a 52″ Flat screen HD TV ( he was losing his vision and it was hard to see the T.V. that they had ). Also a big comfy bed with all the trimmings( his little bed was in terrible condition ) and reclining chair ( Lazy Boy ) for him to enjoy his T.V when he could and was out of his bed. Along with many other gifts of movies, games, goodies, HD TV box and so on. We made it all happen and delivered out the articles to him in 2 days, just before Christmas. I also brought Riley out a check for $500 to spend anyway he wished and other things that he wanted to have for the enhancement of his Wish. The family was simply stunned and so excited. Riley’s face was full of joy as he stared at all the stuff that was being delivered in front of his eyes. Volunteers that helped on the delivery and myself all had tears of joy on what we accomplished in this situation. It was truly magical. I was speaking to the wish dad the other day to see how things are going and if all the goodies we brought out were in order. He replied that it made their Christmas considering the situation. Riley is glued to the HD TV and loves to watch the Sens High definition Hockey. Most of all he enjoyed the juniors hockey over the holidays. His bed is perfect and the Lazy boy is front and center in front of the T.V. With his father choking up expressing his thanks to us all I told him, we are only an extension of the kindness of our donors and their hard work and efforts. As we stood there we all had tears in our eyes and the father could hardly speak anymore. I hugged him and told him that him and Riley are the hero’s in my life.

Krystal-Marie

Krystal-Marie is a typical 15 year old except that she suffers from an Optic-pathway brain tumour. Despite her illness, Krystal has a love for makeup and the latest technology. Her wish was to own a Flat screen TV & a Laptop computer.

Since her birthday falls on Christmas Day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario thought it appropriate to grant her wish as close to her birthday as possible. And so, on December 22nd, she was totally surprised and ecstatic when a Limo showed up at her house to take her shopping for a 46″ Flat screen TV for her bedroom. Moreover, Sony generously granted her a “pink” laptop and “pink” IPOD along with many other surprises.

Krystal mom wrote that: «The wish turned out exactly the way we thought, excellent. It was awesome that Mike the Sony rep stayed and made sure that everything was in working order before he left and said to call him if we needed help.»

This is a birthday that Krystal-Marie will never forget!

Asia ( left on her trip January 19th )

Asia is a quiet 11 year old from Kingston who’s very close to her parents and four siblings. Asia suffers from neurological problems who take a toll on her. As her mom put it: «Asia is an incredibly brave little girl with just too many worries». Unfortunately, one of her younger sisters also suffers from seizures and autism. Because of both sisters condition, they have a trained service dog named Rivers who detects seizures before they happen and alert the parents. The complexity of Asia’s condition has made it impossible thus far for the entire family to travel and enjoy a much needed vacation. Sadly, Asia has a very good understanding of her condition and feels quite sad that her siblings must miss out on certain family activities because of it. Her wish is to travel to Walt Disney to meet the fairies and visit Pixie Hallow. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and our incredible partners, Asia’s Disney wish will come true on January 19th 2009 when her entire family, as well as Rivers, will be flying to Orlando. All of our staff and volunteers are excited for Asia and this great chance to finally just be a kid.

Asia with her 3 Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario Wish Grantors on the couch.

Published by the good people at mustachesforkids.org (the international organization).

The amount we raised this year speaks for itself. Thanks to your efforts and enthusiasm we’ve raised $16,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario. Mike at Make-a-Wish has told me that a wish is in the works and I’ll let you guys know as soon as I know the details and how your efforts are helping.

The Stache Bash Sash Goes too…

Hats off to Todd Headon for claiming the Stache Bash Sash. Truly a great costume, a world class stache and a helluva guy. Congrats. Another one thats gonna be hard to live up to. The bar has been set.

The Portraits

Thanks to Paul Gallipeau (www.lechampiondumonde.com) for taking the glamour shots. I didn’t think we could possibly look any better than we already do, but the photos make your stache larger than life:
http://flickr.com/photos/paulgalipeau/sets/72157611202610943/

Many Thanks

M4K Ottawa would be a naked upper lip without the help from our good friends:

• our one-of-a-kind emcee Sylvie Hill
• our photographers Paul Gallipeau and Bex Fernando
• Zaphods for the Stache bash
• the Clocktower for giving us a home for our 5 weeks

And of course my co-organizers Steve Palmer and Mike Hollingworth.

Next Year

Go forth and spread the word. Next year will be our biggest and best yet. Can you believe we will be 5 years old already.

Brett Tackaberry

Thank you to Jose at Joe Mama’s for gift donations, getting his suppliers and employees involved and being a general, all-around, good grower.

Joseph Thornley is growing a mustache for M4K Ottawa this year. This year, Joe will match every contribution that is pledged through him up to $1,000. Pssst, go donate on his behalf.

We can only expect that M4K Ottawa will benefit indirectly from this valiant hair-growing effort.

This week we will again meet at the Clocktower at 8pm. Look for us upstairs as there is another function downstairs. Pictures will be taken, beers will be drank, and the regular tomstachery will ensue.

But how goes the pledging? Great, to hear it. If you’re anything like me you probably sent out an email to friends, family, colleagues, clients, enemies, ex-girlfriends, etc. You may get the occasional response like “I made a donation through Pay Pal. It is more of a sympathy donation for the difficulties you have in growing a moustache rather than for your success. Nevertheless, the cause is worthwhile and I should not penalize the charity because of your problems. Cheers!”. But you wouldn’t be doing this if you can’t have a chuckle at yourself.

Stache bash — t minus 15 days and counting.

That’s all folks. Over and out. Good hunting. See you on Friday.

Brett Tackaberry

We are now at the end of week 2. The stache crop is look good this year, we will have a full harvest – well grown fellows, well grown.

Like I mentioned last week, if you haven’t started, get a leg up on pledging. PLEASE NOTE, We have an additional request this year, take the cash (not the cheques) you have raised and write one check (made out to Make-a-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario) or send the money electronically. This will help greatly on the administrative side of things. Still keep tally of your donations on the pledge sheet as this is used for totals and tax receipts.

Now the fun part: Are you ready for The Stache Bash? Do you have your costume picked out? -Get it ready.

Here are the details for the venue to pass along to friends, family, mistresses, etc:

Friday, December 5, 2008 (Doors 7pm)
Zaphod Beeblebrox
http://www.ZaphodBeeblebrox.com
27 York Street, Ottawa, Canada.

And Eugene has set up a facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=45620255549

Last but not least, a big thanks to Beca and Viller for taking photos. — funny thing about Mike’s camera, the pictures were all blurry, and there were two of every stache.

Thats it. See you Friday.

Good growing,
Brett Tackaberry

Thanks to a couple early donations from some old time friends.

Word has it that Jose and friends at Joe Mama’s will be participating again.

Of course, the guys at the Clocktower will be joining in once again. Thanks to Bill and the guys at Bank Street and Brett at the Beechwood location.