NIPOMO – PG&E employees from Diablo Canyon Power Plant raised $15,000 in support of the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish foundation at their annual golf tournament.
Melinda Marchiano’s wish was to visit hospitals and other cancer patients to share her hope. Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties made her wish a reality. Here she visits oncology nurses in Phoenix.
Held at Monarch Dunes on Aug. 3, the 15th annual Nuclear Challenge Golf Tournament attracted more than 160 PG&E employees, plant vendors, and volunteers.
“PG&E’s support through the Nuclear Challenge Golf Tournament helps Make-A-Wish grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions,” said Shanna Wasson Taylor, chief executive officer for Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties. “This year’s tournament guest of honor, cancer survivor Melinda Marchiano of Nipomo, was excited to thank PG&E’s employees and vendors in person for their role in making wishes come true. Without the great effort of groups like PG&E our wish granting work would just not be possible.”
In addition to being a Wish Child, 18-year-old Marchiano is an author, inspirational speaker, dancer, cancer survivor, childhood cancer advocate, and a 2011 LIVESTRONG Leader. At age 13, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. When she was 14, and still recovering from cancer treatments, she began writing her story in spiral notebooks. Her finished work, “Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery,” was published by Happy Quail in 2010.
For her wish, Marchiano decided to tour children’s hospitals to speak with kids, doctors and social workers to raise awareness about childhood cancers, hear the stories of the children, share her experience, and impart hope. Through Make-A-Wish’s efforts, Melinda Marchiano’s wish came true, and she and her mother, Lee Marchiano, recently returned from a month-long tour of children’s hospitals on the West Coast. (Click here to watch a video blog on her tour.)
After the tournament, PG&E’s Janis Bailey, an event organizer and supervising engineer at Diablo Canyon, presented a check to Make-A-Wish’s Taylor on behalf of participating employees.
From left, PG&E’s Mark Landis and Doug Wise, Shanna Wasson Taylor of Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties, Make-A-Wish Wish Child Melinda Marchiano and PG&E’s Janis Bailey and Bill DePrater.
“PG&E is honored to once again support Make-A-Wish Foundation Tri-Counties as they continue to make the wishes of local children a reality,” said Bailey. “Our employees, vendors and their families and friends are proud of their long-time commitment to Make-A-Wish through their participation in this annual Nuclear Challenge Golf Tournament.”
Since the tournament’s inception in 1997, PG&E employees have raised more than $200,000 for the local chapter of Make-A-Wish.
Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. With a staff of only four and the help of more than 100 volunteers, Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties has granted more than 1,100 special wishes to children in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
