Marilyn Ford is preparing to celebrate 10 years making life-changing wishes come true for children with a sickness or disability in the Illawarra.
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Mrs Ford is a founding volunteer of Make A Wish Wollongong Volunteer Branch. She became interested when her son Damon Ford was a volunteer with the Goulburn branch and encouraged Make A Wish to start a local branch which was done with the help of Pam Rimmer.
Mrs Ford's daughter Kirrilly also volunteers along with around 20 other people in the Illawarra.
Many have been doing it for a decade but there are many new volunteers including Make A Wish Wollongong Volunteer Branch president James Petrovic who is encouraging the community to help celebrate the 10th anniversary by making a donation to help make more wishes possible for local children.
Mrs Ford said she loves meeting children to hear their wishes so the Melbourne office can try and make them happen.
"Sometimes it can take up to 12 months to make them happen. They are all so different and not always what you would expect," she said.
"We had one little boy who wanted to see really big animals. So we ended up sending him to Western Plains Zoo.
"I will always remember the presentation we had in a park at Austinmer where we hid toy animals so he could go on a safari to find them. He had a wonderful time and so did we dressing up in animal onesies and running around the park as well.
"It was really touching when we told him he was going to the Dubbo zoo".
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
