by Steve and Stephany Bradley
Luke Hoag looks like your typical nine year old boy. Cheerful and blessed with the gift of gab, Luke’s quick, easy smile lets him easily fit in anywhere. [private]Just another nine year old boy growing up on a farm in Walloomsac, NY. Because Luke knows everyone and everything that goes on in his little area of the world, he is sometimes referred to as The Mayor.
But Luke is far from a typical nine year old boy. Luke was born with an inoperable brain tumor, discovered shortly after his birth.
When the Make-A-Wish Foundation became aware of Luke’s condition, they made plans to make his wish come true. Cars is Luke’s favorite movie, so it was only fitting that visiting DisneyWorld was Luke’s wish. Make-A-Wish made Luke’s
dream come true. Just three years old, he and his family, Dad Mike, Mom Jackie, brother Drew and sister Ally went to Disney World and had a wonderful time.
Time passed and as Luke got older, he thought about what Make-A-Wish had done for him. When he was eight, he began to believe he could do something to help other kids get their wish. He decided to help Make-A-Wish get money to help other kids.
Luke found that Macy’s has a program called Macy’s ‘Believe’ campaign, where one dollar is given to Make-A-Wish for every letter sent to Santa, up to one million dollars, whether it is dropped off at a Macy’s store or sent online at (macys.com/believe). Luke thought he could raise money by getting people to fill out letters to Santa, then he would turn them in to Macy’s.
Luke got the message out the first year, accumulating 15,000 letters. By going to Macy’s on Believe Day, a day where Macy’s doubles the donation for each letter to $2, Luke was able to raise the value of his gift to $30,000.
But just as important, word got out of what Luke was up to. Luke set his sights even higher than last year, and this year everyone was ready. Helpers passed out and collected letters, encouraging everyone to participate, and counted letters. Letters began coming in, from the Town of Hoosick to as far away as California. They poured in, thousands of them.
On December 9, Believe Day, Macy’s welcomed Luke and his family with open arms. With television stations and newspapers capturing every minute, Macy’s accepted all the letters in a ceremony fit for a king, complete with a red carpet, Colonie Macy’s staff members in Christmas sweaters, and Make-A-Wish regional Chief Executive Officer Bill Trigg III. Everyone had their picture taken with Luke.
Luke ended up gathering over 44,000 letters, donating more than $88,000 to Make-A-Wish. The letters were delivered in an HFCS bus to Colonie Center. Siena College representatives, where Luke attended a summer camp, hand delivered almost 2,000 letters to the ceremony.
After the welcoming ceremony, Macy’s had a turkey dinner with all the fixings ready for Luke and his family. [/private]