Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article misprinted Richelet Jean’s name as Richard Jean.
Abigail Jean ’27 held a service event Wands for Wishes, at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library this past November, in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation a nonprofit dedicated to granting the wishes of children with life-impacting diseases. At the event, Jean’s friends and family, and members of her community at large, came together to create wands that would ultimately be delivered to wish kids, children waiting for their wish to be granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. According to their official website, Make-A-Wish operates in over 50 countries and has granted over 585,000 wishes since their founding in 1980. Jean’s family developed their relationship with Make-A-Wish when Jean’s sister Hannah was diagnosed with sickle cell. After the organization granted Hannah’s wish, a Moana-themed trip to Disney Hawaii, Jean wanted to give back and do something for other wish kids, while also spreading awareness about the work of Make-A-Wish. “I felt like there has been this idea of Make-A-Wish, that it’s only for kids who are dying. I’ve told people that Hannah is getting a wish and their immediate reaction is ‘I’m so sorry’… I felt like doing something really positive would really benefit both Make-A-Wish and their reputation,” said Jean. “It’s an incredible organization and I feel like more people should think about it not just from a negative aspect,” she added.
Jean’s inspiration for the event initially arose after her family visited the Make-A-Wish headquarters in Manhattan. The visit was part of the process of granting Hannah’s wish. “They don’t usually get visitors, so they were really nice and showed us around and everything,” said Jean. As a thank-you for hosting her family, Jean wanted to use her artistic abilities to create something related to Make-A-Wish’s name. She landed on creating wands as a gift for the Make-A-Wish staff. “I got these wands from Amazon and I spray painted them with stars and swirls. We sent that to them, and they really appreciated it,” explained Jean. This initial gesture served as the inspiration and launching pad for Jean’s later service endeavor. The goal of Jean’s event was “getting kids to make wands for wish kids,” and to make this possible. Jean immediately knew she wanted to get her local library involved in the planning. “I have a lot of librarian friends who were very helpful in the process,” said Jean. She worked alongside Make-A-Wish and the Brooklyn Library; the two entities guided her on the business side and helped bring the event’s concept to life.
“[The event] was really rewarding, it was something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time and seeing people actually have fun with it and having the idea work was amazing,” said Jean. There were 171 people present at the Wand of Wishes event. She shared that the event’s attendance and engagement both surpassed her expectations: “[Attendees] were able to grasp the idea and be really excited about it. I think so many wonderful people showed up. That was incredible.” Jean’s father, Richelet Jean, was pleased with the event’s outcome. “It went better than we could have imagined. The room stayed full the entire time — every seat, every table — and people were really engaged and having fun. Kids were focused, adults were smiling, and the energy in the room was just really positive,” said Richelet Jean in an email to The Polygon.
The event was also gratifying for its participants, who enjoyed the opportunity to come together and give back creatively. “ It was really nice. It was in the local space. I think what we were doing was really good…it was really inspiring to see how many people care about things like this,” said Zoe Kim ’27, a Wand for Wishes attendee. Another attendee and friend of Jean’s, Jemma Huffman, echoed Kim’s sentiments, “I thought it was just fun to do, a cute craft that would brighten someone’s day.”
The community and compassion fostered by the event meant a lot to the Jean family. “Our family knows what it’s like to have a child with a serious condition, and we’ve seen firsthand how much hope Make-A-Wish brings to families. Wands for Wishes was a way for us to give back and to share that feeling with other kids going through tough challenges,” said Richelet Jean. The family also intends to remain involved with Make-A-Wish and this cause, whether through hosting more Wands for Wishes events or continuing to raise awareness about the experience of sickle cell families. “As a family, we just want to keep finding ways to bring people together and spread the same joy and creativity that made this event so meaningful,” added Richelet Jean.
Jean sees future events as opportunities to get Poly more involved in the cause. “I would love to either do something with Poly or just have more Poly students show up. I know it’s outside of school and not necessarily school related, but it’s really just supposed to be a fun, nice event.” said Jean. However, whatever form the event takes in the future, Jean’s ethos will remain the same: “It’s important that we really support these vulnerable people in our lives.”
