This Windsor man has granted 60 wishes for sick kids with Make-A-Wish. Now, he's the volunteer of the year

You’ve heard of the Make a Wish Foundation, the charity that takes the kids on special trips or arranges meetings with their favorite celebrities. Did you know a man in Windsor has helped grant sixty of those wishes? Not only that, he has LED fundraising efforts that have brought in more than $20 million for Make a Wish. Now Jim Scott has been recognized for those efforts during National Volunteer week. Make a Wish Canada has chosen him as its Volunteer of the year. Jim Scott is now in our studio. Welcome back. Good morning. Congratulations. Thank you so much. I, I it’s really an honor and and it’s been a you know 22 or 23 year journey. So yeah, I couldn’t be more proud. I got the call I guess two weeks ago and really need honor. Were you surprised? I was really surprised that you know Windsor and Essex, we’ve done so much with Make a Wish over the, as I said, 22 years. I think I’m just like the the gatekeeper or something because we’ve got amazing volunteers here. Amazing wish Granters here we got amazing sponsors and donors and it’s so I I just I I’m kind of there at the top probably so take me back 20 some years what was it about make a wish that first caught your attention all those years ago that made you decide to devote your energies to it. Yeah. Well my daughters Jordan and Jessica were holding a putting contest. Our company ground effects was much smaller than we’ve got over 4000 employees today. I think we had 13 and I think we raised $186 are my daughters and they decided it was going to go to make a wish. Quite frankly I didn’t even know what Make Wish was at the time and I got this beautiful letter from that that time Lori Quick the executive director of Make Wish the in chat in Chatham the chat or in London, the chapter office in London and and then we did it the next year and I think we raised like $380.00. And then soon after that Lori quick was down talking to me about what we could do in Windsor and and the satellite office was formed probably five or six months after that And now we’ve got you know 40 volunteers here and probably 1314 wish granters and just been a wonderful wonderful opportunity over the course of the past two decades. Now make a wish tells us you’ve granted 60 wishes What have you personally done for those sixty kids. Oh my goodness. I’ve got I’ve got so many memories my wife and I she’s my my wish granting partner and and we’ve met so many incredible kids and so many incredible wish families and they really are life changing these these these adventures whatever they happen to be and it just over the years they’ve just been amazing and I’ve you know run into children they’ve battled back through crazy illnesses and stuff and I’ve met them on the streets right at a park or somewhere and it’s just it’s it’s so incredible to see them you know living life to their fullest at that point in time. So can you share a couple of stories of children that have come in your path and how those stories have stuck with you? Yeah, probably. I mean, I have so many favorites. But Devin, who’s a really cool guy, he wanted to meet Selena Gomez. And I thought, oh boy, that’s going to be, that’s going to be a tough task. And we were back and forth trying to put a wish together. Finally, she was coming to the Palace of Auburn Hills, which obviously is not no longer there. And we went to, we went to the concert and we were going to meet her at her in her dressing room prior to that and we kept you know getting impatient and when when is she going to come see us? And I kept calling the number at the you know hit her security and the guy kept telling me to be quiet and sit tight or something. So Devin was getting really anxious and finally we we got down to her dressing room and she was wearing a a a black sports outfit and and her team was trying to rush her on and she said I’ll take as much time with Devin as I want and an incredible an incredible wish and we ended up sitting up in in great seats and and listeners sing songs and I think Devin sung every single word of every single song. So really really a wonderful opportunity So what are some of the ranges of wishes that people have. Well, it’s all over the place. So we had another young man who suffered from cystic fibrosis and wanted to go do an archaeological dig and got there and and started the dig and was having the time of his life had some health issues make a wish, immediately altered the wish. He ended up in Rome. He’s in Pompeii and ended up in Rome and saw everything that Rome has to offer and ended up being an incredible wish. So it’s the spectrum. It’s you know build your wish create your wish and and there’s so many real neat ones over the past 20 years that that I’ve been involved in and and somebody in Windsor has been involved in so and I imagine many times you get the wish and you think oh all right this is going to be a tough one. Yeah we we we do that a lot and it’s like how do we make this happen and and make a wish just they never give up. Right. It’s always like we’ll we’ll figure it out. I’ve got a couple wishes on the go right now. They’re a little bit more difficult. Celebrity wishes, which are always are always you know you have to find the celebrity at at the right location at the right time. So we have one little girl, sweet little girl that’s waiting on a celebrity wish right now and we’re all just praying that it comes together. So and I’m sure it will it it always seems to find its way through somehow. Why do you feel it’s really important to have these special moments for kids? I mean if you see the end of a A wish you know we always go to the wish family after the wish is concluded, whatever that wish happens to be and you see the the look on the children’s face, you see their smiles, you see the family like that. We always make sure the family’s involved in the wish no matter what that wish is it. It has to be a a collaborative you know family adventure and I’ll tell you it it changes their life and and it’s something that you you remember years and years after the fact and and you know you you go through say you went to Disney for a wish and you didn’t have to see a doctor that week and you didn’t have to see a nurse that week. You didn’t have to have a shot that week at a needle that week you know so it just it’s a it it sort of time stands still for a you know a period there and then and I think it lasts for forever. You know it’s it’s really a it’s really a moment that never gets out of the family’s mind. What kind of demand is there in Windsor Essex for make a wish really really really high you know sadly really really high. We Southwestern Ontario’s 15 counties and unfortunately Essex County makes up a a very high percentage of the wishes granted which which is a sad commentary but it’s but it’s true. So we have increased our wishes ground effects our our employees give money on their payroll you know through payroll deduction and as of yesterday we had granted 244 wishes here in Essex County that was directly related to our our employees funding that through their payroll deduction. So you know we did Southwestern Ontario just about 1000 wishes last year. I think we’re closing in on 39,000 wishes. I believe in Canada this will probably hit 39,000 I believe this year so I mean the wishes just keep coming and you know and and the the team the make wish team are just dedicated to making it happen. So I’m I’m really proud to be involved in it. What’s next Oh I don’t know what’s next. We’re we’ve we’ve got a June 20th, we’ve got our 20th annual golf tournament at beautiful Kingsville Golf and Country Club for Make a Wish. We’re going to surpass $2,000,000. We are at $1,986,000 I think after 19 years. Again, great sponsors great donors, golfers, advertisers. So we’re going to do that on June 20th and it’s going to be a pretty monumental passing $22 million I should say after 20 years. So how can others get involved? We we’re always looking for volunteers we’re always looking for wish granters. It it, you know it’s it’s a great experience. I think everybody that’s what’s ever been a volunteer in Windsor Essex County or a wish granter are still volunteers or wish granters. So you know, once you get in, you never leave. It’s kind of a family affair. It is contagious, yeah. And just to see the smile on on children’s faces and, you know, they’ve probably gone through some really, really rough times, right? And to see them, you know, smile and laugh and say I’m going to get picked up in a limousine to go to the airport, you know, it’s it’s just amazing. It really is. Jim, thank you so much and thank you for all the work that you’ve done. My pleasure. Thank you for having me. It’s been incredible. Jim Scott is a long time volunteer with the Make a Wish Foundation. He’s being recognized with the National Volunteer of the Year Award.