Dear Friends and Family,
 
I feel lucky that I have had the chance to watch the birth of this new charitable foundation. Founded this summer by my friend Cass Tommassello, the Twilight Wish Foundation will work to grant wishes to seniors living in poverty and to celebrate senior volunteers.
 
Tomorrow is a very big day for the new foundation -- the unveiling of the first wish that it has granted. Please take a moment to look at www.twilightwishfoundation.org and Margaret Turner's story below, and forward this to anyone that you feel would be interested.
 

=============================================

Her name is Margaret. She lives in a nursing home. She spent years of her life raising her boys, keeping an eye on the neighborhood’s children, and even feeding homeless people in her own kitchen. She was an active church mother at Harambe Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

 

Margaret’s 81 now. It’s hard to imagine her sweet happy smile on a woman whose son died suddenly in June, but there it is.  Devastating to bury any child, but she had to put her Isaiah in an unmarked grave. There was simply no money.

 

She doesn’t remember what day a nursing home counselor came around with a survey that asked what wish she would like to have come true. But thanks to Margaret Turner’s simple answer, many like her may someday see their wishes granted.

 

 “I want a headstone for my son.”

 

For Cass Tommassello, this was the last bit of inspiration she needed to see her dream become reality. Just talking about wishes like Margaret’s, and the idea of a wish-granting nonprofit, built unstoppable momentum for the Twilight Wish Foundation. Out of thin air people reached out to help make this first wish come true, and to start to build the organization.

 

Twilight Wish Foundation marked Veteran’s day 2003 by granting Margaret’s wish. DeChristopher’s Bros. donated the headstone, the Mount Moriah Cemetery donated the foundation, and the process of making it happen began. Cass phoned Margaret, and through the tears and laughter, Margaret repeated over and over, “God Blass You. God Bless You.”

 

More help trickled in as Cass worked – please appear on CN8 Newsmakers; let us build your web site; we will handle public relations. Can I donate money as a holiday gift to my clients? Cass was setting up accounts for the charity when the customer service agents at both Verizon and PayPal asked if they could donate.

 

Cass and Margaret finally met on December 9, 2003. At Green Acres Nursing Home, you would have thought a parade was coming. Nurses, administrators, janitors, therapists and residents all paused to watch the tearful meeting. “A new thing.” “It started here.” “Margaret helped inspire it” – their excitement was contagious.

 

On January 16, 2004 Margaret and Cass, Margaret’s family, friends from the nursing home, and Twilight Wish Foundation’s supporters will gather at Isaiah’s grave to unveil the new headstone. A small ceremony at 10:00am at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia will dedicate the stone, and prayers will be read by Margaret's minster.

 

It is just a small thank you for the thousands of special days Margaret gave to those around her throughout her life, and for the legacy of wishes that will be granted in the future.

 

www.twilightwishfoundation.org