Annual Have-A-Heart Wish-A-Thon raises over $540,000 in Northeast Arkansas

Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – The 28th annual Have-A-Heart Wish-A-Thon, which benefits children in Northeast Arkansas with critical illnesses, raised over $540,000 during the one-day event.

The Wish-A-Thon is hosted by Jonesboro Media Group, KAIT, and Make-A-Wish Mid-South. The exact total for this year’s event is $544,198.84 and counting. A breakdown of the totals by roadblock is below.

Dedicated Volunteers

The roadblocks for this event are staffed by dedicated volunteers who, many times, come back every year to raise funds for Make-A-Wish.

“I’ve been at this roadblock, gosh, probably 15 years,” said Ashley Sartin, captain of the roadblock at Highland and Caraway in Jonesboro. “The volunteers are great. They always show up and show out. We’ve got people in costumes, we’ve got corporate people that come every year. It’s always a really good turnout.”

Volunteers at Highland and Caraway wave to passing motorists. Photo by Rachel Rudd.

Roadblock captains are responsible for their locations, helping coordinate the volunteers and keep track of the money raised at each location. At a little over halfway through the day, Sartin indicated her location had already raised around $10,000.

When asked why she donates her time, Sartin said, “You get to see the same people every year. You get to see the Wish Kids come by. That’s really special when they come by and visit. Their families get involved. It’s just really a special day.”

She added, “We’re just thankful that everybody shows up and we can put this on every year.”

“We have the best volunteers ever,” said Christie Matthews, sales manager and on-air talent at Jonesboro Media Group. “It’s very emotionally challenging and physically challenging, but everybody does it because they love it. We’ve done it for years and we’ll keep doing it until we can’t.”

The Big Reveal

On the day of the event, the 18 roadblocks are active from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening. During that time, stakeholders, Wish Kids, families, and donors will drop in to Embassy Suites to talk about the program, what it means to them, and how the donations help. Then, the big reveal of how much was donated occurs.

“Today is just an incredible day,” said Matthews. “We raised enough money to grant every wish in the pipeline. We have 22 kids waiting for a wish; it’s going to happen.”

The total from each roadblock is listed below, rounded to the nearest dollar.

Bay – $5,159
Bono – $4,059
Brookland – $5,114
Caraway – $10,004
Corning – $13,959
Harrisburg – $27,075
Jonesboro (Highland Drive) – $22,075
Jonesboro (Red Wolf Blvd) – $31,200
Leachville – $10,455
Lepanto – $8,018
Marked Tree – $5,124
Paragould – $36,200
Piggott – $10,695
Pocahontas –$26,710
Rector –$8,241
Trumann – $20,644
Walnut Ridge –$38,799
Weiner – $8,017

“Now we’ve got to let people know what Make-A-Wish is and how they can refer a child, so we can make sure that every eligible child gets granted their wish,” said Matthews.

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