A Fond Farewell

(dated Dec. 30, 2011)
Dear Friends and Colleagues:


I have said goodbye so many times this week and month. This is the last, and it will be brief, because my eyes are wearing out. Tomorrow morning, New Year’s Eve, I will meet with my successor, Shar Lewis, who will become the second CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah. You will find her to be a wonderful and energetic leader, who will link her drive and ideas to the creativity, commitment, and generosity of the rest of the staff that you have come to know and cherish. A new chapter in both my life and the life of the Foundation will then begin! I am full of happy plans and expectation; but goodbyes are hard.


My office is bare now, except for the wish photos I can’t bear to take down. Shar has to hear those stories first. And I am flooded with 1000 memories. Change during the past quarter century has been fast and insistent, and the organization has looked utterly different at every turn. The one constant, I have come to believe, is in the photos of the children and the families in the midst of their wishes. It is only the hairstyles and fashions that distinguish one decade from another in those photos. The smiles and hugs and sun (there is always sun) are exactly the same. And Mickey Mouse never ages much either.


This work - both the dark and the light of it – has been a blessing to me, as I hope it has been to all of you. Make Shar welcome here. Begin another quarter century of hope and strength and joy together.  I love you all and will never forget a moment of this life-changing experience. 


With deep affection and gratitude,
Chriss Sharer

*Editor's Note: As Chriss looks to open a new chapter in her life, the Foundation looks to honor her. An endowment fund has been created in her name: Chriss’ Wishes. This endowment will ensure a wish is granted each year, in perpetuity, in Chriss’ honor.

We invite you to join us in honoring Chriss by making a contribution to Chriss’ Wishes. By making a donation, you will make a special tribute to an extraordinary woman, while helping to ensure the future wish granting efforts of the Foundation.

To make a gift, please visit our website where you can download a donation form or copy down the address where donations should be mailed.