Run 4 Wishes raises almost $38,000
Transcontinental Media
SUMMERSIDE – Thanks to the generosity of Islanders, four P.E.I. youngsters will each have their wish granted.
During last week’s Run 4 Wishes, the HMCS Charlottetown crew collected, at last count, close to $38,000 for P.E.I.’s chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation.
“My heart has never felt so proud in my life to be part of P.E.I.,” said Canadian Navy sub lieutenant Joe Chaput, the event’s fundraising chair. “I personally felt I was welcomed into every community that we went in to.”
Run 4 Wishes is a five-day tip-to-tip run that helps fundraise to grant wishes to children battling serious or terminal illnesses.
The event, organized the past seven years by crew of HMCS Charlottetown who run each leg, has now collected more than $160,000 —the equivalent of 16 wishes — for the charity.
Island Sobeys this year alone fundraised $13,000 through barbecues, in-store events and the at-the-cash top-up option.
“These people did so much for us,” said Chaput. “It was incredible.”
Weather played a huge part in the event’s success this year. Temperatures were warm and skies sunny throughout most of the week.
“It brought out the sponsorship that we were looking for,” said Chaput. “Mind you it made it somewhat difficult for the team, getting 30 plus degree temperatures plus high humidity.”
But the 21 crew members of the HMCS Charlottetown who ran the route pushed through heat, blistered feet and aching muscles to reach their goal.
“Even though they were sore and achy . . . every single one of these guys and girls had a smile on their face,” said Chaput.
He was honoured to meet some the Children’s Wish kids and their families.
“My personal highlight had to be the helicopter ride we were able to get for the Wish kids. To see this one little boy, Dixon, before he was very, very nervous. He was very shy,” added Chaput. “But when we stepped off that helicopter after 30 minutes the self-confidence this little boy had was absolutely incredible.”
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