It's #NationalVolunteerWeek and we want to share the love. We'd like to say a massive thank you to all our orange army of volunteers who have dedicated their free-time to KidzWish over the years - we couldn't do what we do without you! Comment "thank you" below to share the love.

Stand-up comic Sam Maloney jokes he has never actually stood up to do comedy. But from a wheelchair the Illawarra comedian keeps audiences in stitches. This will be evident on Friday 29 June at the Chuckles for Charity comedy night Maloney has organised with support from KidzWish. The stand-up comedy night will raise funds for the KidzWish Foundation for the third year.

15 years ago, our founder Chris Beaven, organised the KidzWish Christmas Party for 300 children and carers providing them a day full of entertainment, love, laughter and a toys. It was the beginning of KidzWish’s story, but it was far from the beginning for Chris and her vision to help Illawarra & South Coast children who are sick, disadvantaged or have a disability and their families so they’ll never ever have to walk alone.

"Helping one person might not change the world, but it changes the world for one person." Join us this KidzWish Day 2018. KidzWish Day is Friday 22 June, 2018, but you can host an event anytime throughout the month. We've got fundraising packs with everything you need to turn your idea into a successful event. June is KidzWish's biggest fundraising month. This year's message of KidzWish Day is Local Kids Matter.

KidzWish reached a major milestone in its dream to build a new KidzWish Place in Flinders reaching 35% of works completed. We’ve been operating out of the existing KidzWish Place in Shell Cove for 9 years. It’s served its purpose in that time, but it means the children of the region who need that extra support, love and laughter are limited due to space currently available. The new KidzWish Place will be a substantial facility to make it more serviceable for children to access its programs that directly benefit Illawarra and South Coast children who are sick, disadvantaged or have a disability.

"Our amazing speech pathologist, Roisin from KidzWish Foundation visited today with a special gift for Ashton to help him understand his upcoming hip surgery (booked for 10 days time 😳). She has created a special book, called a ‘Social Story’ which we will start reading to Ashton so that he can understand and prepare for what to expect from his operation. Thanks so much Ro, this will not only help Ashton, but will help us in explaining what is a difficult conversation to have. Xx" - Ashton's mother Renee

😄 SMILES 😄 of the Week. We recently held a special screening of Sherlock Gnomes to allow families to enjoy a movie in a safe and accepting environment where kids are free to get up, move around, shout or sing. We love our jobs when we receive emails like this: ⭐ "Thank you for the wonderful day at the movies. My kids loved the day out. We are very grateful and want to thank you and Kids Wish. Thanks again from the Tonga Family." ⭐ "Just passing on a big thanks from the kids for the movie tickets today. They loved the movie and kept talking about it all afternoon! The treats were an added bonus and their first choc top experience is one they very much liked! Thank you!" This experience made possible thanks to Finance Control.

It's been a magical Wednesday for 40 of our KidzWish families. We've spent the morning spreading smiles and watching @sherlockgnomes thanks to our good friends at @finance_control ... because local kidz matter.