Make-A-Wish Foundation was a wonderful organization to work for this semester. Everyone in the office was so supportive and welcoming; I felt like I was part of the staff after the first couple weeks. The women in my department would always ask me to eat lunch with them and attend the staff meetings. My supervisor, Georgina is a sweetheart and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better supervisor. It was certainly hard at times to constantly be reminded of how many children are suffering from life threatening illnesses but the positive atmosphere in the office made reality a lot easier to handle.
There was one other intern in the Wish Granting department and our main tasks were to enter referrals into the system, fax medical eligibility forms to doctors for them to sign, send out welcome letters to families, assign volunteers to a wish child for an interview, enter family questionnaires and wish requests, and send out wish authorizations for the doctors to sign. Once a wish was approved I would distribute the wish information to its respective employee. I was able to help book flights for Disney wishes, make itineraries for wishes, go on a shopping spree wish, and pick out items for a bedroom makeover. After a wish was completed I would send in-kind invoices to other chapters, organize the file to make sure we had all the checks and log them for the auditor to review at the end of the fiscal year.
My supervisor had a constant flow of work for me to do each day. She left me to get my work done and had an open door policy if I had questions. Being able to attend the staff meetings each week was one of the best learning experiences I had working at MAW. While I was sitting in the meetings I took notes and listened carefully to each persons update on what was going on in their department. In doing so I picked up some great ideas and learned a little more about how non-profits function.
Working at MAW has given me a clearer vision about what I want to do when I graduate. I love giving back and doing good things for others who need it. This experience showed me that I can do what I love and use the knowledge and skills acquired from my major and minor in psychology to make a difference in an organization. I became more aware of how important fundraising and sponsorship is to an organization like MAW. Being located in the heart of the entertainment industry has a huge effect on the amount of wishes the Los Angeles chapter completes each year. Without the support of people in the entertainment industry this chapter would not have the resources to grant as many wishes and host events on such a large scale. With my skills in event planning, organization communication, psychology, design, etc, I am confident and serious about working for an organization like MAW upon graduation. The opportunity I had to be on American Idol Gives Back was one that I will never forget and I am so honored to have represented MAW and met so many phenomenal people that day. I am already in contact with the MAW around my area and I hope to work them this summer.
.