Keene State’s Make-A-Wish Club is a relatively new club on campus that is rapidly growing.
“We started off the club with eight members, and this semester we had 155 people sign up and over 50 active members who come to the meetings and volunteer,” said the club’s Outreach Officer and senior Katie Smith.
“A handful of our members either know someone who was a wish kid or were a wish kid themselves,” continued Smith.
Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit organization that helps bring positive memories to children enduring illness and their families. The club’s page on the Keene State OwlNet website reads, “As a club, we will help support the organization by volunteering and hosting fundraisers and events to spread their mission statement to our Keene State College peers.”
Senior Chelsea Gerali, president and founder of the club, said she started it after gaining insight from her mom, who works for Make-A-Wish New Hampshire.
“My mom came to me and said, ‘We do not have a lot of people in the Keene area for volunteers. Can you get your friends together to start helping out?’” said Gerali. “I brought this idea up to Ashleigh Moroni who helped me form this to be a real club and what solidified it for me was [Smith] helping me and supporting me.”
Gerali said Smith has played a significant role in the club’s recruitment.
This club works directly with the Make-A-Wish New Hampshire chapter.
“We are so fortunate to have this connection and we provide wish-granting training not just for our members but for the community members as well,” said Smith. “We also do volunteer work and create a lot of the wish certificates the kids get when we find out what their wish is.”
“This club is very helpful in giving back to the organization. We do wish reveals which is when a kid gets their wish revealed to them which is where our wish certificates go,” said Gerali. “My wish reveal I did was a murder mystery and bringing the club together for that was awesome.”
Active members of the Make-A-Wish Club also spoke about their experiences with the organization.
Senior Abby Hanson said, “I have been a member for over a year and my friends are on the e-board. One of my best friends started the club and I want to support her and I care about kids and the community a lot.”
Sophomore Elizabeth Goldberg said, “My friends are the reason I joined and I like how it helps the community and I am passionate about that as a future teacher.”
“I have participated in rafting for wishes on Lake Winnipesaukee which is where people have their own rafts for 24 hours. Some stay for the whole time, while some don’t. You bring games and food, and there are fireworks. This raises money for Make-A-Wish to be able to grant wishes,” said Goldberg.
The Make-A-Wish Club meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Rhodes S203 this semester. At the end of December, Make-A-Wish is holding auditions for its April 11 talent show and is looking for participants.
Check the Make-A-Wish Instagram account @Makeawishksc for updates about meeting times and information on the future talent show.
Ali Barretta can be contacted at
