Are you interested in Volunteering? 

Do you want to make a difference

in the life of a child? 

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Missouri needs Volunteers and Wish Granters!!

• Volunteers help with fundraisers and events.
• Wish Granters are the Liaison between the Wish Family and the Program Center.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th

Reservations only!

 VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION and WISH GRANTER TRAINING

 5:00-5:30 Volunteer Orientation

5:30-9:00 Wishgranter Training

(If you are not interested in wish granting, you may leave after the first part)

Kansas City Public Library

14 West Tenth Street

Kansas City, MO 64105

ROOM 310

*E-mail kenger@kc.wish.org to make a reservation!

Or call Katie Enger, Program Services Coordinator, at 816-889-9474 for a volunteer packet if you don’t have one yet!

*Volunteers must be 18 years old and Wish Granters must be 21 years old.  An application and background check is required every 3 years.  A Conflict of Interest is required annually.  A Missouri State Highway Patrol Background check is $9.00 and is payable at the time of application.

For more information about Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Missouri, KC Program Center visit www.kc.wish.org

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Why Become A Volunteer?

Volunteers are the foundation of our organization. Our chapter has 300 volunteers and only a small professional staff.   Our chapter covers all 115 counties in Missouri and 6 Kansas counties that are part of metro Kansas City (Franklin, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte). We have our headquarters in St. Louis, with program centers in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield. We have volunteers in all counties. However, there may be a few times when it is necessary to travel to the St. Louis area for meetings or training.

To become a volunteerin the Kansas City area, contact Katie Enger at 816-889-9474 or email Katie at kenger@kc.wish.org. 

Because we work closely with children, the Make-A-Wish Foundation does a thorough check of all volunteer applicants. For applicants 18 years of age and older, we also perform a criminal background check.  We are most concerned with any criminal history in regards to child abuse and/or fraud. All information received from these reports will remain confidential and be used only for screening purposes. The whole process typically takes about 4 weeks depending on the timing of our training sessions.

Commitment levels vary in terms of time, depending on your volunteer position. Wish Granters can sometimes put in twenty hours a week, especially when a wish is a complex one, or is reaching its delivery day, or they can spend less than an hour a week on wish work. The same applies to other volunteer positions. Wish

Ambassadors may only put in two hours a month, but must flexible schedule to accommodate daytime assignments.

Of all our volunteer positions, wish granting offers the highest level of involvement with wish children and their families. Even so, Wish Granters meet a family at the beginning and end of a wish, but may rely on telephone contacts during the rest of the wish. Our emphasis is on delivering a one-of-a-kind wish experience, rather than on developing ongoing relationships with families or children.

We know that the work we do has a high emotional content. Some people would like to help because they relate to our mission, but would prefer little or no involvement with the families. In such cases, we suggest the positions of Wish Ambassador, office team, and fundraising. All our volunteer positions contribute equally to our mission, and bring joy to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

Wish Granters work in teams of two or three, attending to the details of granting a wish. They work directly with children to plan wishes and work creatively to seek in-kind goods and services to implement the wish. The nature of each child’s wish determines the level of the Wish Granter’s involvement. Wish Granters must be at least 21 years old.

Our application process is as follows:
1. We invite you to attend the Foundation’s volunteer program orientation, after which you fill out an application form if you are still interested in joining us.
2. We then complete a screening process, including references and criminal background check to ensure the safety of our wish children.
3. Once your application has been successfully screened we will place you in a volunteer position. Certain volunteer positions require additional training beyond the new volunteer session.

For additional information, contact our Kansas City Progam Center at 816-889-9474 or email Katie Enger at kenger@kc.wish.org.