About Us
How It All Began
The Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. A small group of people there helped a very ill little boy named Chris Grecius achieve his wish to be a police officer for a day. The The Make-A-Wish Foundation® is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 69 chapters in the U.S. and its territories. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants more than 12,600 wishes a year and has granted more than 148,000 wishes in the U.S. since inception.
Our History
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Middle Tennessee was founded in the fall of 2000 when a local organization known as DreamMakers decided to affiliate with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America. In October of 2000, our local chapter granted its first wish to Armand, who wished for a computer. Today, our chapter is called on each year to grant between 80 and 100 wishes to children in Middle Tennessee. In total, we have granted wishes to over 500 children from the 33 counties we serve.
A Mission of Hope
The mission of the Make-A-Wish Foundation®of Middle Tennessee is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
Who We Are
Board of Directors:
President: Mr. John Dwyer, News Channel 2
Vice-President: Mr. Jim Panoff, Cogent Healthcare
Treasurer: Mr. Jeff Lynch, Summit Financial Group
Secretary: Mr. James W. Berry, Frost, Brown & Todd
Ms. Laura Allen, Centerstone
Mr. Paul Barnabee, RCA Label Group
Mr. Steve Barry, J&A
Mrs. Allison Demarcus, Television Host
Mr. Fletcher Foster, Universal South Records
Mr. Ben Hanback, The Hanback Group
Mr. Joey Hemphill, Hemphill Brothers Coach Co.
Mr. Randy Hoffman, Halo Properties, LLC
Dr. John Kuttesch, Jr. Md., PhD., Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital
Mrs. Sandra Lipman, Community Volunteer
Ms. Carol McAlpine, Tennessee Lottery
Mrs. Ginny Panoff, Community Volunteer
Mr. Kevin Reid, Merrill Lynch
Mr. Alan Scarboro, First Tennessee Bank
Mr. Kevin Smith, Advent Land Corporation
Mr. John Steele, HCA
Mr. John Von Arb, Nissan North America
Mr. Kevin Carter, Honorary Member
Mr. Kevin Sharp, Honorary Member
Office Staff:
Ms. Michelle Jerome Rosen, Executive Director
(615) 259-2324 x 10; mrosen@middletennessee.wish.org
Ms. Tanya Sturm, Director of Program Services
(615) 259-2324 x 11; tanya@middletennessee.wish.org
Ms.Patricia Ledford, Director of Development &Communications
(615) 259-2324 x 12; pledford@middletennessee.wish.org
Ms. Jana Lovejoy, Director of Finance &Operations
(615) 259-2324 x 13; jlovejoy@middletennessee.wish.org
Ms. Debbie Seldon, Assistant Wish Coordinator
(615) 259-2324 x 14; dseldon@middletennessee.wish.org
Ms. Jann Seymour, Administrative Assistant
(615) 259-2324 x 15; jseymour@middletennessee.wish.org
