On April 13 we will celebrate the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers and authors of the Declaration of Independence. He believed, like many of us, that the right attitude can make all of the difference in life. He is quoted as saying: “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Here at Wheels For Wishes, we believe that the wishes granted through Make-A-Wish can help change a child’s outlook and positively affect their treatment. That is why we are so passionate about our car donation charity. Whenever you choose to donate your car, you are also choosing to help a child with a critical illness! This can help change a child’s life through the granting of a wish.

Jefferson knew a lot about working toward a goal and the influence a positive attitude can have toward achieving that goal. He is still remembered today as one of the most important historical figures in American history. We have gathered some facts about Jefferson that will help you to better understand our famous founding father.

Cancer can happen to people of all ages, children and young adults included. The week of April 7-13 is meant to spread awareness about different types of cancers in young adults. National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week was launched in 2003 by Vital Options International and takes place annually on the first Monday in April and lasts for one full week. This year, consider donating a car to charity to benefit young adults with critical illnesses. Your donation benefits Make-A-Wish and could grant a wish for a child up to the age of 18.

The month of April is filled with exciting Make-A-Wish events all around the United States. If you live in the northeastern part of the United States, there are three fun-filled events just around the corner benefiting Make-A-Wish Metro and Western New York and Make-A-Wish New Jersey.

Choose from Make-A-Wish Metro and Western New York’s A Night At The Sands event on April 9, or the Make-A-Wish New Jersey Sparkle Shine Fashion Divine event on April 14, or the Make-A-Wish New Jersey Touch-A-Truck Extravaganza. By participating in any of these three events, you can help to grant wishes for your local Make-A-Wish!

What’s better than taking a long walk in the beautiful spring air? When you can raise money for a worthy cause while doing it! Walk For Wishes benefiting Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire takes place on two different weekends: Saturday, April 12, at Castle Park in Riverside, and Saturday, April 26, at Orange County Great Park in Irvine. All of the proceeds from the walks will benefit Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire. The money raised will help pay for the wishes of children with critical illnesses.

To raise cancer awareness and prevent cancer in children and adults, April is Cancer Control Month. While most cancers can be effectively diagnosed through early screening, many cancers do not show signs or symptoms until they enter the later stages, so it can be tough to know when to get screened. Thankfully, the month of April is a great time to spread cancer awareness and get screened, even if you don’t already have signs or symptoms. For children, however, it is important that they eat healthy and stay active to prevent future disease.

Make-A-Wish Arizona’s 2013 Rat Pack Wish Ball raised $2.4 million and hosted 470 guests last year. The upcoming Great Wish Ball offers another opportunity to give back and help the chapter that helped found Make-A-Wish in 1980. The ball, which celebrates the mission of Make-A-Wish Arizona by raising funds to grant the wishes of Arizona children with critical illnesses, has long been a significant event for the chapter.

This year’s Great Wish Ball black-tie gala is on April 5 at The Phoenician (6000 Camelback Road, Scottsdale), from 6-11 p.m. The Wish Ball includes a program, silent and live auction and entertainment for guests, as well as bringing together donors with wish families and wish kids who attend as guests of Make-A-Wish Arizona.

We all know how sweet and delicious a spoonful of sugar can taste, but did you know that it can also help to grant wishes? At Make-A-Wish Wisconsin’s Spoonful of Sugar Wish Night event, more than 60 Wish Kids will have their wishes granted after one amazing night. How sweet is that? Wishes provide children with hope and strength and are sometimes just what a child needs to help them feel like a kid again.

Don’t miss out on your chance to walk the red carpet at The Fifth Annual Wishmaker’s Ball in Tampa, Florida taking place Saturday, March 29. You can take part in this glamorous night – tickets start at $150, or host a table for 10 for $2,000. Doors open at 7 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay with cocktails and a silent auction. Stick around following your dinner and entertainment for the after party at the lobby bar from 11 p.m. until 2 a.m.

Throughout the evening guests will have the opportunity to bid on a number of live auction and silent auction items. Guests will also have the opportunity to meet Wish Kids and their families throughout the evening. Experience how it feels to share the power of a wish at the Fifth Annual Wishmaker’s Ball in Tampa! There are still some sponsorship opportunities available, check them out or sign up to be a sponsor here.

While most of the rest of the county is still digging their cars out of snow banks and wearing heavy jackets to combat the cold, down in Arizona the golf courses have been well-groomed and are ready for tee-off. Now, the Arizona State Physicians Association is offering Arizonans of all ages the opportunity to enjoy a nice morning on the course while fundraising for our partner, Make-A-Wish Arizona. This will be the 5th Annual Charity Golf Tournament at Star Fire Golf Club (formerly: Scottsdale Country Club) on 11500 North Hayden Road in Scottsdale.

The event will take place Saturday, March 29 with registration at 6:45 a.m. The tournament will begin with a shotgun start sending golfers to holes throughout the course at 8 a.m. Following the golf portion of the morning, lunch will be provided and awards will be handed out along with a raffle drawing and silent auction.

There are five different sponsorship options for the golf tournament, so choose whichever works best for you! You can take part as an individual golfer for just $110; become a Silver Sponsor, which includes one tee sign, tournament registration for a foursome and 10 raffle tickets at just $600; Bar Sponsorship, which is $700 based on 100 golfers; Breakfast Sponsorship, which is $700 based on 100 golfers; or become a Gold Sponsor for $1,200 and receive tournament registration for two foursomes, tee sign, tee table and 20 raffle tickets.

In addition to enjoying a great morning on the golf course, golfers could also win an Audi or Mercedes car, 50-inch HDTV, iPod Touch and gift card or a new set of Ping golf clubs if they can manage to score a hole-in-one on the course. Other prizes will be handed out for longest drive, putting contests, closest to the pin and longest putt! Register your team or as an individual today!

The 4th annual Walk For Wishes Collier/Lee is more than just a chance to get out and get exercise. You can help Make-A-Wish Southern Florida make wishes come true. Last year's event raised more than $40,000, enough money to grant more than eight wishes.

Register For Walk For Wishes Today

You can join in the fun! This year's Collier/Lee event takes place at the Florida Gulf Coast University recreation field, 10501 FGCU Blvd. South, in Fort Myers on April 4. Registration at the event starts at 7:30 a.m., with the walk beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Family Fun Day festivities begin at 9 a.m.

Participate as an individual or get together with family, friends and colleagues to form a team. After you complete the 5K course, you can enjoy Family Fun Day activities. If you're running in the event, you can pick up your timing chip at registration.

Spring is a great time to get back outside and get healthy, although some people have been doing more of that through the cold and snow of winter than others. One way to jump-start your spring fitness program is to take part in the races at Allerton Trails the weekend of April 4. Not only can you help yourself feel better, you can help Make-A-Wish Illinois at the same time.

The Allerton Trails Half-Marathon, 10K and Trail-Glo 5K races take place at Robert Allerton Park in Monticello. The Trail-Glo 5K kicks off the weekend’s festivities on Friday, April 3. Starting at 8:30 p.m., runners get to experience Allerton after dark and see the park in a whole new light! This year is the first year of the Trail-Glo 5K race, which will start and end near the park’s visitor center. There will be illuminated trail markings under the moon-lit sky. You'll also pass right through the Sunken Garden, Chinese Musicians, Rodin's Adam, and more, as you make your way to a finish area full of surprises, including s'mores and music. This race is also a celebration of Saturday's race volunteers (who can run the 5K for free), and the perfect warm-up for all running enthusiasts who want to come back on April 4.

Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, which is why it is one of the most celebrated holidays in the United States! In Chicago, they dye their river green, parades are held in Boston and Minneapolis, and green beer is enjoyed in every major city throughout the country. Originally, the holiday was held in honor of Saint Patrick, a Christian Bishop who helped to spread Christianity in Ireland. Feasts were held in his honor in Ireland, and as more of the Irish settled outside Ireland, the feast spread too. Now, more than eleven countries celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in some way. The International Space Station has even celebrated St. Patrick’s Day 220 miles above the Earth!

St. Patrick’s Day has grown from its religious foundation to become a celebration of Ireland and the Irish culture. Green decorations are hung from walls in offices, homes, schools and local pubs in celebration of the March 17 holiday. A great break from the winter blues, St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect opportunity to dress in your brightest green outfit and enjoy life.

While colorectal cancer in children is usually rare and occurs in about one in 1 million children, it is often part of an inherited syndrome that causes the disease. Inherited conditions such as Lynch syndrome, Cowden syndrome, Turcot syndrome, Familial adenomatous polyposis, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Juvenile polyposis syndrome, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis, or MYH-associate polyposis increases the risk of a child developing colon cancer during childhood.

Colorectal cancer is the third most frequent cancer in adult men and the second most common cancer in adult women, but there are generally less than 100 cases of colorectal cancer in children who are under the age of 20. However, colorectal cancer in children is possible, and the entire month of March is meant to spread awareness about colorectal cancer so that people of all ages can be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease.

Dr. Seuss has inspired generations of children to be great through his writing and personal ambition. As a writer, he stood for what he believed in even in the face of tremendous adversity. Today, his writing is still used to teach lessons and is enjoyed by young and old. On March 2, the world will celebrate this historic man’s birthday by looking back at his written work and remembering the lessons he taught.

Reading Dr. Seuss is a great way to expand the imagination of a child and can even inspire some adults. We have put together some of our favorite inspirational quotes by Dr. Seuss in celebration of his birthday!

The presidents have been as unique and quirky as any other person you’ve ever met – sometimes even more strange! They just happen to be holding one of the most powerful positions in the world. Once a year, we celebrate these individuals along with the things they’ve done and the sacrifices they made to make America what it is today.

Presidents Day is Feb. 17 this year, and is special because it will be celebrated on our first president, George Washington’s birthday. All across the nation, from Washington, D.C. to Oakland, people will be celebrating our nation’s history. Here at Wheels For Wishes, we’ve put together a list of 25 unique facts you might not have known about your nation’s leaders.

What better way is there to show the person that you love how important they are to you than by making the world a better place for them to live? Changing the world doesn’t always have to involve some big gesture. Even the smallest changes can make a huge impact. 

Maintaining the planet is another great way to make the world a better place. Once again, it doesn’t take grand gestures to clean up the world. Every person conserving just a little will go a long way in making the world a little more eco-friendly. You can start this Valentine’s Day by going on a green date! Do something that will last, by not leaving a scar on Mother Earth.

This year during Random Acts of Kindness Week, donate your car to benefit your local Make-A-Wish Chapter. Not only will you help to grant the wish of a child in your community, but your car donation will give you the same great feeling that conducting any act of kindness would. Plus, you get a great tax deduction for your kind efforts!

This Feb. 10-16, do something kind for a child in your community and donate your car. Car donations play a huge part in the wish granting process. Make-A-Wish relies on generous individuals like you to volunteer or donate. Your help is needed!

On average, Make-A-Wish is responsible for granting the wishes of deserving kids every 38 minutes. Children with critical illnesses are given the opportunity to experience their greatest wishes come true. Wishes play a part in enriching the human spirit and help to bring hope, strength, and joy back into the life of a child.

Thanks to the help of many generous donors and volunteers, Make-A-Wish is able to send children on their dream vacations to swim with dolphins in Hawaii, or even to Walt Disney World in Florida. Whatever a child wishes, Make-A-Wish sees that it happens. Still, your help is needed!

Nearly 50 percent of people with televisions watched the Super Bowl last year. Even for people who dislike football, it has become a tradition to click on the game, sit down with friends and mock or admire the commercials. If you are planning to host a Super Bowl party this year, there are ways to have a great party while also remaining eco-friendly! Don’t turn your back on Mother Earth just to impress your friends. Make an effort to throw a green Super Bowl party this year.

If you’d like to keep green and throw an eco-friendly Super Bowl party, you’ve come to the right place. Here at Wheels For Wishes, we promote living a green life every day. When you donate a vehicle to Wheels For Wishes, it is recycled, helping the planet and children of Make-A-Wish. A donation to Wheels For Wishes helps children in Rapid City, Burlington, Billings, and your community too! Proceeds from every vehicle that is donated benefit Make-A-Wish and help to make wishes come true. Here are some tips for making your Super Bowl party green:

National Freedom Day was established in 1948 to remind the citizens of America why the country was originally formed. National Freedom Day is a symbol of freedom for all people and is celebrated annually on Feb. 1. It was specifically created to celebrate freedom from slavery and represent America’s unending quest to be a symbol of freedom in the world.

Many residents throughout the nation will celebrate National Freedom Day with town festivals and activities. Other citizens celebrate National Freedom Day by honoring those individuals who have made contributions to their community and the world as a whole. The wreath-laying ceremony at the Liberty Bell has been a staple in the Freedom Day celebration annually, and many look forward to watching the ceremony live, or on television, in celebration of the day.