Walk for Wishes coming in May

Walk for Wishes is coming to Northwest Arkansas May 20 at Arvest Ballpark, and has attracted a fundraising team out of Pea Ridge.

The walk is a nationwide fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Esther Schroeder, a development officer for the foundation, said this is the second annual walk.

“The walk is just a completely free and fun event,” she said. “Free day to celebrate what Make-A-Wish has done for our community.”

The foundation, she said, granted 25 wishes in Northwest

Arkansas last year. Right now, she said, there are 41 children they’re working to provide a wish for.

The foundation, she said, does not solicit children, meaning families need to contact it.

It’s important to note that these are granted for those with life-threatening conditions, she said, not strictly terminal conditions.

“We’re here for a little happiness during some hard times,” she said, “but it by no means is a last wish granting organization.”

People interested in raising funds, she said, can form teams for the walk, and each team gets a page on the walk’s website.

A lot of foundation donors, she said, are families who received wishes in the past, like the Harwell family out of Pea Ridge, who could not be reached for comment.

Mason Harwell, according to the Team Mason page, is a wish recipient, and his family is eager to help raise funds so the foundation can help others the way it helped him.

According to the page, a granted wish can have a lifelong impact, and can help a child recover physically and emotionally alike.

The trip, according to the page, can be a great chance for a child to forget about sickness and pain.

Harwell was given a trip to Hawaii, Schroeder said, and his family participated in last year’s walk as well.