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Volunteer of the Year Award Winners

Every April during National Volunteer Week, we honour our Volunteers of the Year, celebrating their extraordinary dedication to advancing our mission and transforming lives. The nationwide nominations reflect our volunteers’ profound passion and commitment to Make-A-Wish Canada and our wish kids, their families and communities.

Announcing the 2024 Award Winners

National Winner

Jim Scott

(Windsor, Ontario) For over 20 years, Jim has been a passionate advocate for our mission and a great believer in giving back to his community. He has granted 60 wishes, raised millions of dollars and helped establish a satellite office for Make-A-Wish in the Windsor area. Jim has led a dedicated group of volunteers in his community to raise funds and grant wishes. His annual golf tournament will proudly celebrate its 20th anniversary this year and exceed $2 million dollars raised.

I’ve been granting wishes for 20 years and every time I run into a wish family, every single one of them say that the wish changed them. It helped them heal. It helped them turn the page on all the bad things they went through. A wish is really life altering and I’m blessed and honoured to be a part of it.
– National winner, Jim Scott, Windsor, Ontario

Western region winner

Donna Serr

(Medicine Hat, Alberta) For nearly 19 years, Donna has been instrumental in organizing, planning, and coordinating numerous fundraising events, raising more than $900,000 to grant wishes.  As a wish mom herself, Donna is the face of the organization in Medicine Hat and has personally met every wish family in the area. She is often referred to as the “Wish Lady”, having helped deliver over 60 wishes to date.

In 2008, Donna began inspiring local students and community members to give back to others when she established the Walk for Wishes fundraiser, which now has eight local schools participating. She is a champion for kindness and generosity and passionately believes in the life-changing benefits of a wish for children with critical illness.

Central region winner

Hazel Wayne

(Richmond Hill, Ontario) Over the past decade, Hazel has been a volunteer wish granter for over 40 wishes to date. She plans wish reveals, delivers wish boosts as part of a countdown, and stays in regular communication with her families. She thoughtfully goes above and beyond to make each child feel special.

Getting to the heart of each child’s wish is important to Hazel, who tailors the wish experience accordingly. Her goal is to help create a truly memorable experience that the child will never forget. She’s happy to take on wishes remotely in places where we have few volunteers on the ground and often comes up with creative ways to make those remote wishes exciting, including pretending to be a dolphin over the phone!

Eastern region winner

Hind Mesloub

(Montreal, Quebec) Hind is a woman of many skills. Behind the scenes and without fanfare, she works tirelessly doing whatever is needed. Her work underscores the importance of every role within the organization. Hind summed it up beautifully when she said, “Anything I can do to help is a good use of my time.”

Since before the merger, Hindi has taken on many much-needed tasks including making encouraging phone calls to fundraising event participants, organizing paperwork, assisting at every fundraiser, writing wish stories and delivering wish reveals. Her dedication, attention to detail, and non-stop enthusiasm have made her an integral part of the team. She approaches everything she does with a positive attitude and acts as an advocate within her community network.

Applications Currently Paused

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Make-A-Wish Canada.

At this time, we have paused the acceptance of new volunteer applications, except for wish-granting volunteers in the following regions:

  • Manitoba
  • Saskatchewan
  • Maurice Region (Quebec)

If you live in one of the regions listed above and would like to express your interest in becoming a wish-granting volunteer, please email us at [email protected] with your name, phone number, email address, and home address. We currently have sufficient volunteers in all other regions to meet our wish-granting needs.

For those interested in volunteering in a fundraising capacity, please contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Please check back in Spring 2025 for updates on volunteer opportunities. Thank you once again for your support and interest in Make-A-Wish Canada!