Despite the uncertainties surrounding the unrelenting COVID-19 pandemic, Wish Book readers remain steadfast in their support for Bay Area nonprofits and the people they serve. Readers donated more than $903,000 to the Mercury News’ holiday giving campaign, supporting a diverse group of worthy causes — many that are struggling to recover from the pandemic.
“The Wish Book campaign is one of the most important things we do every year,” Bay Area News Group Publisher Sharon Ryan said. “Once again, the powerful storytelling of our award-winning journalists joined forces with the generosity of our community to achieve this sensational result.”
More than 2,100 people donated to the campaign this year, and that generosity will have ripple effects throughout the region — helping at least 50,000 people served by South Bay nonprofits and potentially many, many more. Wish Book and its companion program in the East Bay, Share the Spirit, raised more than $1.4 million combined, the second consecutive year their totals have topped $1 million, marking a far higher level of donor generosity than prior to the pandemic.
Among the beneficiaries is Leonora Martinez, who finally will be able to draw a real bath for her teenage son, Austin, who was disabled following a 2017 bicycle accident. Leisa Preston, director of East Palo Alto-based Ecumenical Hunger Program, asked Wish Book readers to help Martinez in a way the nonprofit couldn’t by providing $25,000 in funds to build the family a bathroom that can accommodate Austin’s wheelchair as well as a special bathtub for the 6-foot-1 inch, 250-pound young man.
Readers responded in a big way to the story, told by Bay Area News Group reporter Julia Prodis Sulek and photographer by Dai Sugano. “A lot of things have happened to this family, but I feel we’re resilient,” Martinez said in the article. “We’re doing the best we can with what God gave us.”
And now, they’ll be able to do a little better.
Readers also were moved by stories about First Place for Youth, a nonprofit that provides housing for young people transitioning out of foster care; the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz; and the Los Gatos-based Youth Science Institute.
YSI Executive Director Erika Buck says the $25,000 from Wish Book readers will help programs like its new “Science Saturday” at Alum Rock Park in San Jose. Right now, it reaches about 66 at-risk and low-income students, but YSI wants to expand its scholarship program to serve 288 kids.
“Youth Science Institute is grateful to the members of the community for their generosity and to the Wish Book for making this possible,” she said. “As a result, we will be able to inspire more academically at-risk children from low-income communities by providing hands-on, nature-based science education programs.”
For Live Oak Adult Day Services, which has struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic with staff shortages while also trying to serve elderly clients at three facilities in Santa Clara County, the goal isn’t so much about expansion but bouncing back to its pre-pandemic levels. It lost employees to retirement and other jobs during the crisis, and has still been unable to hire enough workers to reopen its center in Los Gatos.
But Executive Director Ann Peterson is optimistic that when things settle down health-wise, they’ll be able to bring many services back. And the $20,000 wish that was fulfilled by Wish Book readers will be part of that effort.
“This year, we’re trying to ramp up, but we’re not able to take in as many clients as we’d like,” she said, adding that 45 families are on a wait list. “We can’t serve them because we don’t have enough staff. We’re really banking on funds from Wish Book to help.”
The Wish Book program was launched in 1983 as a way for the greater San Jose community to shine a light on the stories of the less fortunate among our neighbors and provide a way for readers to help them achieve better lives. Tax-deductible donations are accepted year-round at wishbook.mercurynews.com.
The Bay Area News Group’s East Bay program, Share the Spirit, had a record year in 2021. It raised $535,722, which was a sizable increase over last year’s total. Share the Spirit will use the funds to help organizations including Livermore-based Open Heart Kitchen, Options Recovery Systems in Richmond and the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County.
San Jose resident Bonnie Home is a reader who believes she hasn’t missed a year donating to the Wish Book campaign. “Who wouldn’t want to grant a wish for a deserving person? Most of us can only grant little wishes, and it delights us to surprise people by giving them their heart’s desire,” she said. “But to grant a big wish? That takes all of us. When the wishes are as carefully researched as the Mercury News Wish Book stories are, I feel confident that the donations will be used prudently and in the best way possible.”
Year after year, she says, she donated in the memory of Holly Hayes, who was the Mercury News’ Wish Book coordinator for several years before her death from cancer in 2010. She fulfilled the final “wish” of the 2009 season just days before she passed away.
“She didn’t forget the people of San Jose,” Home said, “and I don’t want to forget her.”
HOW TO GIVE
Donate at wishbook.mercurynews.com.
ONLINE EXTRA
Read other Wish Book stories, view photos and video at wishbook.mercurynews.com.
Source: www.mercurynews.com