As Volunteer Manager with Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast & Louisiana, I'm honored to invite you to learn more about our mission and how integral volunteers are to every step of ta child's wish journey for the more than 500 wishes granting locally each year.  As a transplant to Texas in 2008 from central Indiana, I found myself longing to join the Houston community.  I naturally gravitated toward meaningful engagement that was familiar to me as a previous volunteer with Make-A-Wish in my hometown and attended wish granter volunteer training in 2009.  Little did I know that I would soon have the opportunity to take on a full-time staff position, and 12 years later have the joy of continuing to serve and learn in new ways each day while sharing in the transformational power of a wish.  I'm an active wish-granting volunteer and have served in staff roles within our mission delivery, fundraising and development teams.  I truly believe that wishes are not just nice but necessary.  For a wish child, the opportunity to step outside of their current limitations and experience the hope, strength, and joy that only a wish can provide is integral to their journey of battling a critical illness.