Make-A-Wish® Southern Florida Unveils Finker-Frenkel Wish House
A new era in the 41-year history of Make-A-Wish® Southern Florida began this month with the opening of the Finker-Frenkel Wish House, the nonprofit’s new headquarters in Miami. The one-of-a-kind facility will provide the organization event and administrative space but, most importantly, be a place children and families can come to explore possibilities and make determinations about the life-changing wishes they want to have.
MAWSF President & CEO Norm Wedderburn
Malnik WishWorks Ribbon Cutting
The 25,000-sq.-ft. building, located at 343 NW Sixth Street in Miami’s historic Overtown neighborhood, is five stories tall and overlooks I-95 and the downtown skyline. Its centerpiece is “WishWorks,” an interactive, multi-media experience created by a former Disney imagineer, whose leading-edge technology and effects will take critically-ill children on a journey of discovery to determine the ideal wish for them.
Finker-Frenkel Wish House
WishWorks
“The Finker-Frenkel Wish House is an opportunity for us to help critically-ill kids expand their imaginations and dream bigger than the reality they currently know, which is all too often dominated by thoughts of doctors, treatments, and hospitals,” said Norman Wedderburn, president & CEO of Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. “WishWorks will take their minds to another place and transform the wish discovery process as they navigate their way through what we’ve created.”
Norm Wedderburn, Eugene Frenkel
A privately-funded capital campaign enabled Make-A-Wish to raise the dollars required to purchase land and build the facility without using funds generated to grant wishes. The opening of the wish house was celebrated over the course of two days with many of the stake- holder groups that collaborated during the ten years from the initial idea to ribbon cuttings, including donors, professional service firms, Make-A-Wish alumni, families, and staff.
Cindy Baumgarten
Among the major donors in attendance at the events were representatives of the Finker-Frenkel Family Foundation and the Malnik, Zebersky, Weissman, Crowley, and Perez families. Additionally, Sonrisa, a rum brand co-founded by Make-A-Wish Southern Florida Chairman Emeritus Shareef Malnik, provided its product at a pop-op rooftop bar. Building partners that took part in the opening festivities included Arquitectonica, Greenberg Traurig, Cumming Group, and Suffolk Construction.
Shareef Malnik
Laura Zebersky
Make-A-Wish Southern Florida has granted more than 14,000 life-changing wishes since 1983 for children who have critical illnesses. It aims to grant a wish for every medically-eligible child and understands wishes aren’t just nice, they’re necessary for kids and families during some of their most difficult times.
Wish Alumnus Juliana Bach
Wish kids most often ‘wish to be’ (something), ‘wish to meet’ (someone), ‘wish to go’ (somewhere), ‘wish to have’ (something), or ‘wish to give’ (to a cause) and the nonprofit organization makes this happen for the child and his/her entire family at no cost or obligation.
Wish Alumni Chris Alegria, Devon Vickers
The Southern Florida chapter’s territory includes 22 counties/four regions in southeast and southwest Florida, on the Suncoast, and around Tampa Bay. It also includes the U.S. Virgin Islands.