Wednesday, December 1, 2010
{The Blue Banner}
Page 15
Performers raise money for children to Make-A-Wish
Hali Ledford
HDLEDFOR@UNCA.EDU
STAFF WRITER
Musician Mickey Hayes helps
make wishes come true for children
with life-threatening illnesses in West
ern North Carolina through the annual
Asheville Make-A-Wish Benefit Con
cert.
“To me, the mind can do a lot of
things, and if you put a kid in a good
frame of mind and a family in a good
frame of mind just for a week and grant
their wish, it changes their whole per
spective on what’s going on,” Hayes
said.
After spending years touring,with
musicians such as Willie Nelson,
Way Ion Jennings and Warren Haynes,
Hayes moved from Nashville, Tenn.,
to Asheville to raise his two sons, who
were bom with major medical prob
lems.
He said he found an abundance of
support from the community and orga
nizations similar to the Make-A-Wish
Foundation. He said Make-A-Wish
was an organization he strongly be
lieved in because of his own experi
ences with his children, so he decided
to become involved with the charity.
“I thought, ‘You know, if I’m going
to do something for a charity, I want
to do it for something I believe in, not
just pick one out of the phonebook,”’
Hayes said. “I researched Make-A-
Wish and found o.ut what they were all
about, and it kind of strack home with
me because I felt lucky after meeting
some of the kids and some of the se
rious illnesses they have, life-threat
ening illnesses. It made me think that
these guys are doing a great job, so I
felt it was a natural thing for me.”
Hayes has promoted the show in
Asheville for 10 years, but this year
marks the event’s third year as the of
ficial Asheville Make-A-Wish Benefit
Concert.
“I wanted to be more closely aligned
so people would realize from the name
of the show what we were doing,”
Hayes said.
Since he took over the music jam,
more than $80,000 have been raised
for the charity. The Orange Peel will
host the concert on Thursday night
with 100 percent of the proceeds go
ing to the Make-A-Wish Foundation
of WNC to grant wishes to children in
the area.
“Without them, I don’t think I could
have raised what I’ve raised. I knew
photo courtesey of Micky Hayes
Crowds cheer on performers at The Orange Peel during last year's Make-A-Wish Benefit Concert. All
money made during the concert goes to the Make-A-Wish foundation of WNC to fund wishes in the area.
that I had to have a really top-notch
venue to put on a show that will gener
ate enough excitement to bring in good
crowds every year,” Hayes said.
Hayes began working on the show
in September, contacting bands and
lining up entertainment. This year, the
show will include music from Matt
Stillwell, the Rock Academy Kids,
Avyntra, Contagious, the Sharkadel-
ics. Ironside, Crocodile Smile and DJ
Moto.
“I’ve been working for the last cou
ple of years trying to bring a national
act in, and I finally succeeded this year
with Matt Stillwell,” Hayes said. “He’s
a fast, up-and-coming country star,
originally from Sylva, so he’s a North
Carolina boy.”
Sharkadelics guitar player Alton
Eddins said the band is happy to play
in the concert each year to give back to
the community.
“It’s a great cause to raise money for
the kids. We’ve been doing it 10 years
and it’s really a good thing,” Eddins
said. “We don’t play too many chari
ties, but this is one well worth playing
for. Hopefully, every time we play it
affords each child an opportunity to
get one of their wishes granted, and if
we can be any part of that then we’re
all about it. It’s just such a joy to see
the look on their faces when they’re
out there.”
The Make-A-Wish foundation of
WNC has completed 40 wishes in the
past year for children between the ages
of 2 and 18 who have life-threatening
medical conditions. On average, a sin
gle wish costs $6,000 to fulfill, accord
ing to Make-A-Wish Regional Direc
tor Carolyn Harrison.
“I would like everyone to know that
we are a local charity and we’re hurt
ing too. Our funds are down $30,000
from last year,” Harrison said. “Wishes
are funded through contributions. We
don’t have any government assistance.
It’s strictly companies, corporations
and individuals that donate money.”
Harrison said most young children
wish for a trip to Disney World while
older children choose shopping sprees,
cruises, a computer, college tuition or
a room makeover.
“We try to fulfill their wishes wheth
er they want to be a cheerleader at Car
olina or'the Cowboys or they want to
become a model,” Harrison said.
According to Harrison, Make-A-
Wish of WNC does not deny a wish as
long as the child is eligible.
“They know upfront we do not do
underground pools. That child just
has to come up with another wish, but
we will do a hot tub and we will do
aboveground pools,” Harrison said.
The WNC native said she has thor
oughly enjoyed working for Make-
A-Wish for the past seven years and
looks forward to many more years
with them.
“It’s always sad to lose a child, but
it’s also so rewarding when you know
you have given a memory to a family,”
Harrison said. “It involves not just the
child, it’s the whole family. It takes
them away from thinking about doc
tors and shots and hospitals and treat
ments. We take care of the whole fam
ily, we don’t just take care of the child
who has the illness.”
The Asheville Make-A-Wish Benefit
Concert will begin Thursday at 7 p.m.
It is open to all ages and
adinission is $10.