Finding inspiration in volunteering
Louise Borg has volunteered for Make-A-Wish since 2002, an experience that she describes as life-changing.
A life-changing decision
Bubbly, effervescent and committed. These three words spring to mind when thinking about Louise Borg, current President of Make-A-Wish’s Western Sydney branch.
Louise joined Make-A-Wish in August 2002, just two months before her wedding in October that same year! Asked why she offered to join Make-A-Wish at such a critical time in her own life, Louise says “it’s hard to believe that I needed something else to do, isn’t it! But I’d read an article about a wish child, and the smile on that kid’s face just spoke to me. I love kids and even though I was getting ready for my own journey to marriage and family, I knew that I wanted to do this too. That article sat in my heart, and I just had to volunteer.
20 years on and with two children of her own (a boy almost 16 and a 12-year-old girl), Louise is as committed as ever to her role in the Wish Force and relishes the joy she experiences when wishes are granted. “I don’t think that feeling ever lessens,” she says. “Seeing the happiness that granted wishes bring to wish kids and their families is something that just captivates your heart. It’s what drives me and keeps me motivated,” Louise explains.
As a founding volunteer of Make-A-Wish’s Western Sydney branch, Louise has done almost every job there is to do in a branch. She’s been branch secretary, treasurer, vice president, and president a couple of times over the years, all while keeping up with everyday volunteering to capture wishes and make them come true.
“Seeing the happiness that granted wishes bring to wish kids and their families is something that just captivates your heart. It’s what drives me and keeps me motivated.”
- Louise Borg
A most inspiring wish
When asked about her most memorable wish, she recalls one of about 12 years ago for a seven-year-old girl with meningococcal disease.
“This young girl’s personality was just so striking. It shone out through her smiling face, never faltering even though she’d lost her legs from just above her knees, all her fingers except one, one of her ears, and part of her nose. Nothing seemed to stop this little girl whose Kiwi father had taught her the Haka, something she excitedly performed on her little legs when she received her Make-A-Wish laptop – her wish. This has genuinely stayed with me.”
It’s not difficult to understand why Louise has remained a volunteer with Make-A-Wish for the past 20 years. The happiness in her voice and openness in her heart are like sunbeams.
“Being a Make-A-Wish volunteer changes you… it makes you look at life in such a different light. I appreciate life so much more – my health, the health of my kids, and all the little things you usually take for granted when you are a happy, healthy person.”
Louise Borg is a Make-A-Wish Star – she embodies all the qualities and aspirations Make-A-Wish holds dear. And you know that when Louise explains to anyone who doesn’t know Make-A-Wish that “…it’s wish granting organisation that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses or an illness that will change their life dramatically to offer them happiness and fulfilment…” you know that they believe her.
Thank you, Louise, you truly are a Make-A-Wish Star!
"Being a Make-A-Wish volunteer changes you… it makes you look at life in such a different light. I appreciate life so much more."
- Louise Borg
