LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The Make-A Wish-Foundation trucker convoy was back to its full glory after scaling back for the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
The carnival, chicken dinner and auction happened in Manheim Sunday. Over 500 trucks lined up to participate.
“I have a granddaughter that’s a Make-a-Wish child and I’m paying it forward for her,” said truck driver Michael Kindt.
Kindt is this year’s top earner. He raised about $30,000 for the foundation to help other families the way Make-a-Wish helped his.
“She needed a special bed,” Kindt said. “It saved her when she had seizures so she wouldn’t choke herself at night and die. Insurance kept saying no, no, no. I said call Make-a-Wish. They had it within three weeks at our house.”
He led off the truck convoy with 14-year-old Hailey Dougherty. She has about one more month of treatment until she’s cancer free.
“They didn’t know if I would ever truly recover, but I kind of shocked them when I was swimming butterfly that summer,” Dougherty said.
Make-a-Wish just granted Dougherty’s wish with a trip to Hawaii.
“I went ziplining over where they filmed 'Jurassic Park,' it was so cool and so pretty,” Hailey said.
This trucker convoy is the largest in the world. Thousands of people line up to watch along the 26-mile route.
“Make-a-Wish is about kids that need things, kids that are terminally ill and you don’t know if they’re going to make it to the next day, so it’s really close to my heart to support these kids,” Kindt said.
Dougherty says she wants to be an example for families going through a tough time.
“I’m doing this so people can see that it does affect everybody from the little kids with no hair to teenagers that are going through high school," Dougherty said.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Make-a -Wish Foundation and the work they do here in Central Pennsylvania, click here.
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