UPDATE - 12/23/2023 (Conor's Birthday): 

THANK YOU! Conor has exceeded his goal for 2023 (now at over 250%) — raising more than $12,700 for Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania & West Virginia this year alone. That brings our grand total to more than $63,000 since 2015.

We are so grateful for your generous support year after year. Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season and in 2024.

- Conor, Alyson and Matthew

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Conor was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, in 2011. While the disease is not curable, Crohn’s is treatable and we're blessed that Conor receives excellent care from physicians in Erie and Pittsburgh and now on campus at Saint Bonaventure. Thankfully, Conor is responding well to his most recent treatments.

In spring 2015, Dr. Alka Goyal, Conor’s former gastroenterologist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, recommended him for a "wish" from Make-A-Wish® Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Since that time, our family has learned so much about the Make-A-Wish® organization. Initially, we thought they provided wishes to kids only with "terminal" illnesses, but we've since learned that wishes are for kids like Conor with critical illnesses. Their mission is to create life-changing wishes for kids with critical illnesses and we've seen first-hand just how powerful (and life-changing) a wish can be.

In April 2016, Conor received his wish. He spent an afternoon hanging out with his favorite late-night talk show host in New York City. Conor’s wish to meet a huge celebrity and television personality has made such a positive impact on his health and his life that he wants to pay that feeling forward and give another deserving girl or boy a wish of their own so they too can know the happiness, relief, and renewal that a wish can bring.

In 2013, shortly before turning 10, Conor decided to turn his annual birthday parties into "pay-it-forward" events. That year, Conor raised more than $535 for the Barber National Institute and donated 150 handmade ornaments – made by guests at his birthday party – to Golden Living Center. The following year, Conor collected and donated 1,100 brand-new comic books for children undergoing treatment at Saint Vincent Health Center and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Since 2015, Conor, with help from his family and friends, has raised more than $51,000 for Make-A-Wish to help grant wishes for children with critical illnesses like him.

For his efforts, Conor has also earned recognition for his philanthropic birthday projects with WJET-TV naming him a "Good Kid" in 2014 and Kohl's Department Stores selecting Conor as a local winner in the 2015 Kohl’s Cares® Scholarship Program. In 2016, Conor was honored as the Association of Fundraising Professionals Northwest Pennsylvania Chapter Outstanding Young Philanthropist. Now a sophomore at Saint Bonaventure University, Conor wants to continue to raise money to grant a wish again this year.

For his 2023 Wish Your Way Campaign, Conor is asking you to join him to raise at least $5,020 (for his 20th birthday) to fully fund a child's wish!

Please click the "Donate Now" button above to support Conor’s campaign for Make-A-Wish. If you prefer to donate via check, please make it payable to "Make-A-Wish," add "Conor's Annual Birthday Wish Campaign" in the memo or in an accompanying note, and mail or drop off to:

Make-A-Wish Erie Regional Office
717 Indiana Dr
Erie, PA 16505

Thank you for your support and generosity. Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season!

- Conor, Alyson and Matthew