Columbia preschool raises $5,397 for Make-A-Wish

The Learning Experience in Columbia, South Carolina, raised $5,397 in April through its annual Let’s Grant Wishes campaign for Make-A-Wish. The effort mixed fundraising with classroom activities to teach preschoolers kindness, empathy and community service while supporting children with critical illnesses.

Why it matters: - The campaign gave preschoolers a hands-on lesson in generosity while raising money for children with critical illnesses. - The funds support Make-A-Wish, which helps grant life-changing wishes for children and families. - The effort shows how early childhood education programs can connect classroom learning with real community impact.

What happened: - The Learning Experience in Columbia raised $5,397 during its month-long Let’s Grant Wishes campaign in April. - Preschoolers, families and staff members contributed through donations, events and classroom activities. - The campaign benefited Make-A-Wish.

The details: - Children wrote encouraging letters to wish children. - Preschoolers took part in fundraising events and compassion-focused classroom activities. - Center leaders Charity McCann, Josie Lewis, Megha Srivastava and Anshu Srivastava guided the campaign. - Philanthropic mascots Grace the Greyhound and Charity Chihuahua helped bring the program to life. - The campaign is part of The Learning Experience’s proprietary philanthropy curriculum. - That curriculum introduces children to kindness, inclusion, generosity and community service through age-appropriate activities. - The Learning Experience said the campaign is designed to show children that small acts of giving can help others and strengthen communities. - Since 2018, The Learning Experience centers nationwide have raised more than $11.5 million for Make-A-Wish. - The Learning Experience operates more than 480 centers and has more than 240 additional locations in development across the U.S. and U.K. - The company serves children from six weeks to six years old. - The Learning Experience also extends learning through Bubbles and Friends, its educational media platform with original characters, music, video content and a companion app. - The company has been recognized as the No. 1 Childcare Franchise by Entrepreneur magazine and the No. 1 Education Franchise by Franchise Business Review.

Between the lines: - The fundraising campaign doubles as a character-building exercise for young children. - The program gives the company a visible community-service angle that goes beyond standard early education marketing. - The cumulative national total suggests the annual campaign has become a recurring fundraising pipeline for Make-A-Wish.

What's next: - The Learning Experience is likely to continue the annual Let’s Grant Wishes campaign at other centers nationwide. - The company says it will keep using philanthropy-based activities to reinforce its early education model and community mission. - Make-A-Wish will continue relying on community fundraising to support wish-granting programs for children with critical illnesses.

The bottom line: - The Columbia preschool turned a classroom lesson in kindness into $5,397 for Make-A-Wish, while adding to a nationwide fundraising total that has topped $11.5 million since 2018.