In April and May, it’s easy to help Make-A-Wish Illinois grant wishes for local kids. If you do some spring cleaning and decide you’d like to make a car donation to Wheels For Wishes, benefiting Make-A-Wish Illinois, or choose to participate in a local fundraising event, you can make a difference in Illinois! Kids in Chicago, Joliet, Rockford, East Saint Louis, and Aurora will benefit from your generosity.

Plans are in place for the eighth annual Merrill Lynch Grand Gala. The Merrill Lynch Grand Gala offers a great opportunity for wish supporters in Wisconsin to come together to make wishes possible in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, and all across Wisconsin. Registration is open now. You can get your tickets today by contacting Nicole Williams, Madison Regional Director, at 608-252-4321. Doors open at the Gordon Event Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus at 5:30 p.m. on May 2. Sponsorship opportunities are also available at the gala. Check out the Grand Gala Table Host packet to choose a plan that works best for you.

Teaching children the importance of keeping the Earth green and healthy is important for the future of the world. Earth Day is a special celebration which promotes green tips and sustainable living. Earth day is celebrated April 22, and became an official United States Holiday in 1970. On the very first Earth Day, more than 20 million people gathered in the streets to protest the industrial revolution. Since then, April 22 has marked a day when families come together to collect garbage, plant trees, clean up beaches, teach one another about living green and sign petitions to promote a better future for the planet. Since 1990, the holiday has been recognized worldwide. Huge projects take place each year, including a 100,000 person bike ride on Earth Day in 2012 in China, and more than 28 million trees being planted in Afghanistan on Earth Day in 2011.

There are plenty of ways to promote Earth Day and teach your children about the importance of protecting the planet. Many families will plant a tree in their yard for each child and watch them grow along with their children. One of our favorite ways to celebrate Earth Day here at Wheels For Wishes is by making Worms In Dirt!

Make-A-Wish World Wish Day is April 29, and there are plenty of ways for you to get involved and make wishes come true, with car donation among one of the easiest and most beneficial. When you donate a vehicle to car donation charities such as Wheels For Wishes, you can help to grant the wishes of children all over the United States. Wheels For Wishes works with Make-A-Wish chapters around the country and vehicle donations can be picked up or towed away nearly anywhere. Find your local chapter and donate a car today.

The IRS tax-filing deadline is Tuesday, April 15, and if you donated your vehicle to Wheels For Wishes last year, you are eligible for a tax deduction. Donating a car to charity is a great way to receive a tax deduction. If you have a vehicle and are looking to donate it this year, know that Wheels For Wishes makes getting your car donation tax deduction easy. All you have to do is give us a call at [chapter_phone] and we will take care of the rest. We can take your vehicle even if it isn’t in working condition.

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.

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.

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!

When a car stalls or no longer runs, one of the toughest decisions can be deciding what to do with the vehicle. Do you pay for car repairs to fix it, or do you try to sell it? When upgrading a vehicle to a different make or model, it can be a pain to trade the current vehicle in or haggle over a sales price with a potential buyer. Getting rid of a vehicle is never easy, unless you make the generous decision to donate it to Wheels For Wishes. Donating a vehicle to Wheels For Wishes is easy, hassle-free, and saves you time and money!

Wheels For Wishes makes the most out of each and every car donation, even if a vehicle no longer runs! If you sell or trade in your car, you may have to pay for vehicle repairs before selling it, but Wheels For Wishes accepts most vehicles, no matter the condition. Wheels For Wishes either auctions off vehicles for new owners to use, or vehicles are recycled and reused to build new vehicles. This makes vehicle donation green and eco-friendly too! Not only is car donation easy, but it’s easy to contribute to the green movement.

Did you know that more than 74 percent of the wishes from children in South Carolina involve travel? The busiest travel time for Make-A-Wish is coming right around the corner with summer break, and there are ways to help.

Make-A-Wish relies on frequent flyer miles to help Wish Kids – and their families – travel to their destinations. One way to help is to donate your frequent flyer miles to Make-A-Wish South Carolina. Donated miles never expire and you can help transform the life of a child with a critical illness.

Simply fill out a Delta, United or US Airways form and your miles will be donated. You can also help by:

• Hosting a drive for frequent flyer miles at your workplace

• Asking your employer to donate miles

• Hosting a banner or badge on your blog or website.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

It is that time of year again, when the snow has started to melt and blades of grass are finally making their way into the open. The cold temperature that helped you to put-off cleaning and organizing your garage, house and lawn is being replaced with comfortable and temperate weather, and excuses are running short. It is spring cleaning time. You might be looking around your house and wondering what you are going to do with all of the items that have been stacking up, but don’t worry too much: A garage sale in May should take care of most of those items.

Then, there is that used car in your driveway. Before the winter it was fine, but it has been an especially rough and cold winter throughout the United States, and your car has taken the brunt of that damage. One solution to the old-car-blues is car donation.

News stories these past few weeks have contained images of war, hunger and political discord. It is easy to get lost in these harsh articles and forget all of the positive things that are taking place around us. Everyone is capable of doing or witnessing something amazing, and with technology advancing at a spectacular pace, it has become easier to catch these moments on camera. So, instead of focusing on the negative, here are some of the most positive stories to come out of March 2014 so far.