Collingwood Today’s Random Act of Kindness recipient is Lisa Wright, a local RN who spends her free time making the dreams of her patients come true.
Lisa Wright is a compassionate community leader who is far more accustomed to giving Random Act of Kindnesses than receiving them. Lisa has dedicated her life to creating amazing experiences for patients at the end of their lives. After finishing her work day at Hospice Georgian Triangle, Lisa spends her time making the wishes of terminally ill patients come true.
In 2018, she founded the Living Wish Foundation alongside her passionate colleagues, Dr. Alyssa Boyd and Nancy Good-Kennedy.
To date, they have granted the wishes of 102 terminally ill patients. The wishes vary from person to person, ranging from getting Blue Jays tickets for a lifelong baseball fan who had never been to a game, to rescheduling a Grade 8 graduation ceremony so that a mom could see her daughter graduate. As a volunteer at Living Wish Foundation, Kira Kenny saw Lisa go the extra mile to make the wishes of patients come true again and again.
Inspired by her philanthropy, Kira nominated Lisa for a CollingwoodToday Random Act of Kindness.
“Lisa is inspiring and empowering,” shared Kira. “She rallies the troops and makes people’s dreams come true: whether it’s plane tickets, manicures or party supplies – she makes it happen.”
Kira explains that all of this is made possible on a shoestring budget. The Living Wish Foundation team tirelessly writes grant applications, supports volunteers and brings together donations from our generous local community to make wishes come true.
We decided to pay Lisa’s kindness forward and surprise her with a Random Act of Kindness, arriving on her doorstep with gifts from our generous community partners. This included a beautiful bouquet from Collingwood Flowers, tickets to two performances at Theatre Collingwood’s Porchside Festival, and gift cards for Brunello, Tim Hortons Collingwood and Home Hardware.
Lisa was surprised and flattered to receive the Random Act of Kindness.
“Everyone has personal reasons for becoming a medical professional in palliative care,” Lisa shared. “The dream is to make things better for people at the end of their lives.”
Lisa explained that during work hours, she and her colleagues are focused on the immediate needs of the patient such as reducing their pain or nausea and making them as comfortable as possible.
“Living Wish supports the other needs of patients and refocuses on what is important to them,” Lisa continued. “It brings people hope.”
She also had a personal story that helped to guide her on the path to establishing the Living Wish Foundation.
“My best friend growing up died of leukemia,” Lisa shared. “But before she passed, she got married. She walked down the aisle with no hair and everyone was bawling… it was beautiful.”
If you know of a terminally ill person based in the Georgian Bay area who would like to have a wish come true, you can fill out a short application form on the Living Wish Foundation’s website.
If you know someone in the community who deserves recognition for their selfless actions, positivity in the face of hardship, or just for being a great person, you can nominate them for a Random Act of Kindness. Fill out our nomination form today!