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May 13, 2005/Iyar 4 5765, Volume 57, No. 37
Local teen raises funds for Make-A-Wish Foundation
BENJAMIN LEATHERMAN
Special to Jewish News
A wareness bracelets are all the rage these days, as celebrities, athletes and teenagers everywhere sport the trendy silicone accessory, promoting causes ranging from tsunami relief to breast cancer research.
But Raquel Goya, a local Jewish teenager, hopes the wristbands' popularity will translate into fund-raising success as she strives to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation, making a difference in the lives of terminally ill children.
Raquel, a 15-year-old Phoenix resident, has been selling the charity's pink awareness bracelets, as well as raffle tickets, at local strip malls over the past six weeks as a part of a fund-raising effort that also includes garage sales and a letter-writing campaign.
Assisted by her 10-year-old sister Alyssa, Raquel said she hopes to collect $10,000 for the nonprofit organization's "Kids for Wish Kids" program, which encourages local youths to help raise approximately $5,000, the average cost of a seriously ill child's wish.
"Granting wishes is expensive and for many of these kids this is the only thing they have to look forward to - a break from medical treatments and pain," Raquel said.
The project was born out of the frustration the sisters felt after learning in February 2004 they were too young to become "Smilemakers," or Make-A-Wish volunteers, aged 16 years or older, who visit children in local hospitals.
Esther Goya, Raquel and Alyssa's mother, said her daughters wanted to assist the foundation in any way possible, so after an initial raffle and letter writing campaign generated $5,000 last spring, the pair doubled their goal and looked for additional ways to raise funds.
Raquel said she didn't intend to cash in on the recent craze, but decided to sell the Make-A-Wish wristbands for $3 each after a suggestion by Denise McClintock, development manager for the Arizona chapter.
"A lot of the kids at my school wear the bracelets, so it just made sense," said Raquel, a ninth-grader at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix.
But the bracelet biz is just one part of the sister's fund-raising endeavors, along with raffling off prizes donated by local businesses as well as accepting donations from those who simply wanted to give. The pair will be selling both bracelets and raffle tickets 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 14, outside of Temple Beth Israel, 10460 N. 56th St., Scottsdale.
Fund-raising is just one of the many charitable activities Raquel is involved in: She also tutors elementary school students through the Greater Phoenix Jewish Coalition for Literacy, a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, and produces and performs in a variety show at a local nursing home.
Her endeavors might also help her when she represents Arizona in America's National Teenager Scholarship Organization's National Sweetheart Competition in Nashville in July, as the event's judges will evaluate her community service efforts as well as her poise and intelligence.
Although Raquel is a considerable distance from meeting her goal, having $3,500 as of press time, McClintock said every little bit counts.
"I'm always really excited that kids are taking an interest in helping other kids," she said.
For more information or to donate, call 480-585-7422 or e-mail estherinphoenix@cox.net.
Benjamin Leatherman is a freelance writer in Tempe.
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