Make wishes come true

Extra Wish celebrates the spirit of giving back. Our 2022 Extra Wish opportunity catalog featured 31 nonprofit requests. It spurred special year-end donations to provide for specific needs of local nonprofits, with more than $137,000 given so far, but several requests remain unfulfilled. The list of remaining “wishes” is below. Give a little or a lot, the choice is yours. Will you grant a request today?

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Arts

Actor‘s Express inspires people to question themselves, their communities and the world by creating live theatre in an inclusive space designed to challenge conventional thinking and reflect contemporary human experiences. A teaching theatre, Actor‘s Express expanded its intern program to better serve Georgia‘s creative industry and to cultivate an array of rising talent. The theatre recently upgraded its stage technology so that interns learn on the latest and most popular systems. Actor‘s Express wishes to add new stage curtains and a cue lighting system to complete these upgrades.

Washer/Dryer units $2,335
Stage Curtain $2,965
Cue light system $2,200        
Total: $7,500

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Community development and sustainability

Fayette Humane Society (FHS) helps pet owners unable to care for their cats and dogs, including providing free spay and neuter surgeries and assisting with large vet bills. FHS participates in frequent community outreach events including an annual Fayette Luv Your Pet event in partnership with the City of Fayetteville. The organization requests custom banners, tents and tables to enhance its educational presence while out in the community.

Three custom branded banners $405
Two pop-up tents $350
Two folding tables $80
Total: $835

Historic Hills Community Development Corporation actively pursues avenues to housing preservation, maintaining high-quality workforce housing and building communities. It is unique in its commitment to integrating Black Atlanta and maintaining historical cultural and community connections into a new and more diverse populace. Historic Hills is beautifying land near a vacant school to develop a small aquaponics garden as a creative means to address a food desert in the area. The organization requests fencing, handicap accessible benches and a storage shed so that all neighbors can enjoy this new community garden.

300-foot chain link fence $4,500
Two handicap accessible benches $1,500
Storage shed $1,500 
Total: $7,500

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Education and youth

A+ Squash uses squash as a hook to motivate students, increase fitness and establish healthy habits that can lead to greater confidence and well-being, in and out of the classroom. A+ Squash seeks STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) kits for its camp programming to apply science to the real world by teaching engineering, robotics and machine design. The organization also requests fitness trackers to motivate scholar athletes to make healthy lifestyle choices that boost mood and performance.

25 STEM robot building kits $3,500
52 Health and fitness trackers $3,950           
Total: $7,450

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Health and human services

Foreverfamily inspires hope in the children of incarcerated parents to help them become successful adults and maintain strong families. It offers afterschool programming, caregiver support, college and career readiness and parent education seminars. Foreverfamily also provides food for families and requests food boxes to send meals to families in rural areas and grocery gift cards for those in the metro area. To help morale for parents who are incarcerated, the organization requests a photo printer to send photos of children throughout the year.

50 insulated food boxes $2,750
40 Visa gift cards $4,000
Photo printer $130     
Total: $6,880

Green Acres Baptist Church cultivates a strong community bond in the Fair Oaks/Green Acres neighborhood while addressing a chronic need for food staples for residents. The church supplies fresh vegetables and other foodstuffs on a weekly basis, yet a critical missing factor is non-perishable items that meet the dietary requirements and cultural sensibilities of residents. Green Acres wishes to establish a pop-up market where individuals can select their own items, maximizing their sense of dignity and minimizing food waste. The requested shelter tent will transition the market from a drive-through distribution site to a community destination where neighbors can interact.

Canopy tent $5,047
Roll-up kit $60
Anchor bags $128     
Total: $5,235

Feeding GA Families takes a whole well-being approach, customized for each family it serves. Food distribution options account for health and dietary concerns with fresh produce and plant-based choices. Feeding GA Families prioritizes academic performance for young people in its programming, recognizing that children who complete their education can improve their family‘s financial outcomes. It requests books to include with snack kits to encourage reading; grocery gift cards to supplement access; and transit cards to take families to and from job training, medical appointments, school and work.

250 books $250
50 grocery gift cards $2,500
50-30 day MARTA cards $4,750       
Total: $7,500

Living on Purpose provides transitional housing and support services for women who have previously been incarcerated, including counseling and employment assistance, helping to put women on the path to independence and family reunification. The organization seeks funding for mental and behavioral counseling as well as weekly case management sessions that help women navigate the specific challenges they face. It also requests laptops that women will use for email correspondence, job applications, making appointments and school work.

2 laptop computers $1,000
Mental/behaviorial health subscriptions for 4 clients $3,600
Case management sessions for 5 clients $2,900     
Total: $7,500

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach is the only local provider with a broad range of wraparound support for patients battling any type of cancer and their families, including access to education, financial assistance and support groups. Loving Arms seeks funding to purchase supplies for new clients, including wigs, blankets and essential items that make initial treatment as comfortable as possible, so that families can focus on treatment and well-being during this difficult time.

15 wigs for cancer patients $3,000
20 chemotherapy blankets $800
24 essential supply bags $3,600       
Total: $7,400

Contact your philanthropic officer to make a grant or visit DonorCentral NXT.

Pictured: Actor’s Express