Apprentice Line Technician Wesley Norris paid forward $500 to the South Carolina chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Wesley said, “I feel everyone should get to have one special moment to spend with their loved ones doing something they love and having the opportunity to forget about their illness for a short period of time. This cause is close to my heart because I have experienced both an adult and a child in my close family face the fact that they have a life-ending diagnosis due to cancer. The toll the treatments, appointments, and side effects take on the entire family is indescribable. If I can do anything to help make that time a little easier for these families and help them find some joy I want to do that and I think the Make a Wish Foundation is the perfect place to start.”
For over 40 years, the Make-A-Wish has been granting life-changing wishes for children diagnosed with a critical illness.
According to the web site wish.org, “Wishes are more than just a nice thing. And they are far more than gifts, or singular events in time. Wishes impact everyone involved—wish kids, volunteers, donors, sponsors, medical professionals, and communities. For wish kids, just the act of making their wish come true can give them the courage to comply with their medical treatments. Parents might finally feel like they can be optimistic. And still others might realize all they have to offer the world through volunteer work or philanthropy.”
To find out more, donate, or refer a child, visit www.wish.org.
Laurens Electric’s Pay It Forward program, begun in 2015, was born out of a desire to continue the good work of the 75 Acts of Kindness community initiative.
Every Laurens Electric Cooperative employee is entered into a random drawing to receive $500 to pay forward in any way they choose. Each month a new name is drawn, and the employee then has one month to apply the funds toward their own act of kindness.
This initiative is budget-neutral; the funds come from Laurens Electric’s charity events, which employee volunteers make possible.