{"id":46030,"date":"2017-06-06T10:43:13","date_gmt":"2017-06-06T14:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=46030"},"modified":"2021-07-09T16:38:20","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T20:38:20","slug":"making-wishes-come-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2017\/06\/06\/making-wishes-come-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Making wishes come true"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Katie McGrath ’17 was honored as Volunteer of the Year by A Special Wish.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State graduate Katie McGrath had open-heart surgery as a baby, which made it very easy for her to feel connected with A Special Wish Foundation \u2013 Dayton, an organization that grants wishes to children and adolescents who have been diagnoses with a life-threatening disorder.<\/p>\n

At Wright State, McGrath worked as the graduate assistant to the Office of LGBTQA Affairs<\/a>, as well as facilitating Safe Space Ally Development, Our Voices Panels and Spectrum Sessions. She also served as a president\u2019s ambassador. She enjoyed networking with professionals at Wright State, as well as getting to know the president of Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to know Dr. Hopkins on another level,\u201d said McGrath, who graduated in April with her master\u2019s degree in educational leadership<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McGrath was recently honored as the first recipient of the Ruth Wiles Volunteer of the Year award from A Special Wish Foundation\u00a0\u2013 Dayton.<\/p>\n

She began working with A Special Wish Foundation in 2012 through an internship\u00a0program between the foundation and the Wright State Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. During her internship, McGrath learned all aspects of what goes into running a nonprofit organization. A favorite responsibility of hers was when she would help assist in the granting of a local child\u2019s wish. For example, when a child wishes to go to Walt Disney World, McGrath worked with A Special Wish partners to secure flights, lodging, park tickets and other related needs to make the wish a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the child and the child\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

After her internship was completed, McGrath continued to volunteer with A Special Wish, volunteering whenever she was needed and playing an essential part in the success of many events throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten a lot of event management experience, so that\u2019s been really cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

McGrath said that through the events, she has gotten to know the families who are associated with A Special Wish. She also keeps in touch with \u201cwish kids\u201d who she has worked with in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been phenomenal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On the day of the award ceremony, McGrath was in Illinois, dropping her brother off at college. Seyer asked McGrath if she was going to be there, but she had to decline. \u201cIt\u2019s a seven-hour drive, so there was no way that was happening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

David Seyer, executive director of A Special Wish Foundation \u2013 Dayton, had the award ceremony recorded and sent a copy of the recording to McGrath, surprising her with the honor. When McGrath watched the video and realized she was the first recipient of the award, she was shocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI replayed it and then I just started bawling,\u201d she said. \u201cTo even be considered in Ruth\u2019s area was just so rewarding and so humbling. I just cried and cried and cried.\u201d<\/p>\n

The award is named after Ruth Wiles, who has volunteered with A Special Wish since 1988. Wiles began volunteering to help her daughter, who was then a board member for the organization, deliver wishes to children. Then she became A Special Wish\u2019s first paid employee. Since\u00a0her retirement in 1995, Wiles has continued to volunteer by delivering wishes. She has delivered over 200 wishes to children.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuth is amazing. I know her very well,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cRuth is someone you just want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the committee met to choose the first recipient McGrath was the unanimous choice. \u201cKatie was the perfect choice to receive this prestigious award,\u201d Seyer said. \u201cShe is dedicated to the organization and the children we serve. She embraced all aspects of not-for-profit stewardship, and it was an honor and a privileged to have her in the ASW offices.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Katie McGrath, who graduated in April from Wright State with a master\u2019s degree in educational leadership, was honored as Volunteer of the Year by A Special Wish. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":46035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,2025,2104,2060,744,725,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-community-service","category-teacher-education","category-graduate","category-education-human-services","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46030"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46038,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46030\/revisions\/46038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}