Happy Spring! We are counting down the weeks until nearly 200 recommitted hikers follow in your footsteps and take on 28 miles in one day, just as you once did. Can you hear the cowbell? It’s an exciting time for all hikers, whether this is their first or seventh year participating. We’ve missed seeing you on the trail – you’ll forever be part of our “tramily” (trail-family). 

As you well know, your efforts through the Trailblaze Challenge San Diego (TBCSD) have allowed us to grant deeply impactful wishes to many children throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties. A wish invites a child to focus on being a child again by returning their innocence and spurring their imagination, all while they’re dealing with painful and frightening emergency room visits, doctor appointments, surgeries, and so much more. The wish provides a sense of empowerment and helps a child look to the future with excitement and hope, while creating positive memories for the entire family that last a lifetime. That is the life-changing work of Make-A-Wish San Diego, and your impact through your past TBCSD participation. 

Record Number of Wishes. Currently, we are facing two important and inter-related challenges. The first is the impact of certain wish types that were on hold because of COVID-19 but are now being granted again as travel and safety restrictions are being lifted. Although we granted many other types of wishes during the pandemic, some children whose medical conditions allowed them to wait for travel chose to do so, all while we continued receiving new referrals. In 2019 our pipeline of children waiting for wishes stood around 250; today, our pipeline is 325. Now that travel wish types are again available, we’re seeing record numbers of children choosing to move forward. At the same time, the rising cost of just about everything means that granting wishes today costs much more than it did in 2019.

Because of this, our financial goal for the TBCSD has grown as we work to fund the additional 75 wishes currently waiting in our wish pipeline. We hope to reach our biggest fundraising total yet – $800,000 – to help grant those wishes. We are calling on our incredible Trailblaze alumni family to help us bridge the gap. 

Would you consider a gift to support our goal? In addition to continuing to truly make a difference in the lives of these children and their families, you will provide 2023 Trailblazers with extra motivation and inspiration to keep going. For the current participants, knowing that past hikers are supporting their efforts makes each challenging moment feel that much more achievable. Thank you for your consideration.