HoHoHoliday Virtual Event Raises $56,000
February, 2021
Thanks to our ongoing partnership with 365 Sports , we have raised close to $60K through our reimagined HoHoHoliday 5K national virtual event, helping to grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. National partnerships are critical to our mission and our ability to raise funds to grant transformative wishes. We value these partnerships and celebrate their impact when we can.
Make-A-Wish® Canada remains focused on keeping our wish kids and families, community supporters, volunteers and employees safe and has paused wish-granting that involves travel and gatherings until further notice. Right now, there are over 435 wish kids whose wishes have been postponed because of COVID-19 — and that number grows every day as the global pandemic continues. This means more wishes are now waiting and for our wish kids, every day of waiting is one too many. With COVID-19, new health worries are also present, bringing added isolation and vulnerability for wish kids and their families. Children are counting the days until their wish will be granted, and their families are counting too.
“We are extremely proud of our long-standing partnership with 365 Sports and their strong commitment to our mission. Last year was such a challenging year for everyone and as a society, we are all trying to find ways to experience joy and happiness. So when they brought forward this partnership, we were thrilled to have this opportunity,” says Sheila Rees, Make-A-Wish Canada’s Vice President of Development. The event not only raised much-needed funds, but it also brought communities together safely and provided a platform for people to give back during the holidays.
“My nephew was granted a wish in 2013,” says team Brady Bunch captain, LouAnn Good. The team at Make-A-Wish® are amazing and we are always happy to support them in any way that we can. They hold a very special place in our heart for all that they do.”
“The HoHoHoliday 5K was the bright spot in 2020 for 365 Sports,” says Mike Lambert, Vice President and General Manager of 365 Sports. “In our most difficult year of business being sidelined by the pandemic, our amazing team came together to create the HoHoHoliday 5K into a national virtual event. We were thrilled to partner with Make-A-Wish which took this fun event and changed it into a holiday movement. 2800 participants from East to West suited up as Santa’s and raised $56,000 for Make-A-Wish. I could not be prouder of our staff that made it all happen, and to all of our generous and spirited participants that made this event such a success.
Thank you to all the participants, fundraisers, donors and 365 Sports for this incredible accomplishment!