Christmas star

By Tania Martin
The Upper Ferntree Gully 28-year-old is waving her magic wand for a good cause.
She has been working with the Starlight Children’s Foundation for the past 12 months granting wishes for sick children.
Elise joined the foundation because she wanted to volunteer and felt it was a good cause.
As Starlight aims to raise more than $1.5 million this Christmas, Elise is urging people to dig deep.
So far this festive season they have raised just over $500,000.
The foundation is calling for people to donate and send a message of hope to a child this Christmas.
Every day during the holiday period there will be over 400 seriously ill kids admitted to hospital across the country.
Although she has only been granting wishes a short time, Elise said it was a fantastic feeling to be able to put a smile on a sick kid’s face.
So far she has helped one boy by providing a laptop for him to do his school work on while in hospital.
Elise meets with children in hospital to find out what they want and works hard to make their wishes come true.
“I then approach businesses and organisations for donations so we can grant the wish for the child,” said.
Elise is now working hard to make a young girl’s music recording dream come true.
“She wants to be able to record the song that she has written,” she said. “This one (wish) is a bit more difficult because it’s about more than just going out and buying something but giving a child an experience,” she said.
Elise said there was no other feeling in the world like helping a sick child.
“It’s a good feeling … they always have a smile on their face no matter what they are going through, it’s pretty inspirational,” she said.
Messages of hope will be delivered by the foundation’s Captain Starlight, who entertains sick children in hospitals across the country.
Those wanting to put a smile on a sick child’s face this Christmas can donate or send a message by contacting the foundation on 1300 727 827 or by logging onto starlight.org.au.