By Brianna Crummy ‘16 | 

Angelwish has been granting wishes to children with chronic illness for the last 16 years. The global organization ensures that 100 percent of all the donations made reach the children. It is also a part of their goal to educate students on the importance of philanthropy and helping others. This holiday season, West Essex will be contributing to Angelwish’s efforts. The Student Council has stated plans to organize a Holiday Gift Drive to make the ailing children’s holiday season a little brighter.

Angelwish works differently from many other organizations that assist children spending time in hospitals. Make A Wish, for example, is known for making extravagant dreams come true: Accoriding to Make-A-Wish, each wish costs an average of $7,500 and each request is typically fulfilled by multiple donors.

Angelwish, however, makes smaller and direct donations to its recipients. Anyone looking to make a contribution can go onto their website and buy a gift for a specific child. Shimmy Mehta, founder and CEO of the organization, spoke to students at the beginning of October about the impact a donation makes on a family. “We know that the families are dealing with a lot of stress from all of the medical expenses and we don’t want them to worry about holiday gifts,” Mehta said.