UM Stars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation aims to enrich the lives of children facing life-threatening medical conditions by providing them with financial, inspirational, and motivational support while providing college students with an outlet for making a difference in the lives of others. Our organization was founded at the University of Michigan in April of 2004, and our first mass meeting was held only months later, on September 21st, 2004, at the Michigan Union. Our first three years have been an amazing success, as we raised over $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan and have been involved in granting the wishes of three very special Ann Arbor kids.
As an organization, we strive to support the Foundation both financially and through volunteer efforts at events such as Walk-for-Wishes, Wish-A-Mile, and Wish Ball. On the University of Michigan campus, we support the foundation with signature fundraising events, including Yost Skate Night, Charity Bowling Night, and Penny Wars. Information regarding all of these events can be found throughout this website and in our newsletter.
Our success allowed us to adopt the wish of 3 year-old Julia, an Ann Arbor native diagnosed with germ cell cancer. Julia's wish to go to Walt Disney World with her family was financially supported by UM Stars and came to fruition in April of 2006. We would like to thank every student and sponsor who has supported UM Stars in providing the Hunter family with this opportunity.
Our group was equally as excited to grant our second wish, that of 13 year-old Matthew, who took his family on a Caribbean Cruise! The University of Michigan Men's Hockey Team helped us send Matthew and his family off to the Caribbean earlier this spring.
Thanks to the hard work of many students, UM Stars was able to raise over $60,000 during the 2006-2007 school year. With this in mind, we look forward to granting several wishes in the coming months. We would like to thank the University of Michigan's Greek Week for its generous donation to our cause. Other donors are listed on the donations page; we thank them for their generosity.
If you are interested in supporting UM Stars in any way, or in establishing a Stars chapter at your college or university, please feel free to contact me via email at Thank you for your interest and support!
Erin Deroo
President, UM Stars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish of Michigan Website: www.wishmich.org
Make-A-Wish Website: www.wish.org