Twilight Wish Foundation

Six years ago, founder Cass Forkin was having lunch with her daughter in a local diner when she noticed a group of elderly ladies counting out their change, trying to pay for their lunch. Cass realized that this lunch was a stretch for the women’s fixed budgets and decided to treat them anonymously to lunch. She gave the waitress a $20 bill, but the women insisted on knowing who treated them. They came over to Cass’ table with tears in their eyes and broad smiles and said, “We didn’t know there were people like you still out there. We thought you had forgotten us.”

Cass could not stop thinking about the women’s comments and their gratefulness for her small act of kindness. She saw there was a real need for a program that addresses the higher level needs of seniors, beyond the basics of food, housing, and medical care and acknowledges that younger generations care about elder generations. She filed the initial paperwork and Twilight Wish Foundation was granted nonprofit status as a 501(c)(3) in 2003. The very first wish was granted by Twilight Wish on January 16, 2004 to an 81-year-old woman who wanted to have a headstone for her deceased son who was buried in an unmarked grave. Since that first wish, Twilight Wish has granted 1,062 individual wishes.

We continue to make a measurable difference in the way that elderly are treated in America by:

- Building public awareness of the needs of the low-income elderly throughout the U.S.

- Granting individual wishes to deserving seniors who cannot make their own wishes come true.

- Fostering intergenerational relationships through our Intergenerational Caring Program which brings together students and nursing home residents in a wish granting program.

- Recruiting and mobilizing volunteers throughout the U.S. to meet the needs of our senior population.

As a nonprofit, funding can be hard to come by and impacts the technological equipment we are able to afford. As Twilight Wish continued to grow, expanding into seven states in 2008, we realized that unless we updated our technology, we would be unable to maintain our growth and continue to serve the deserving elderly that needed our help.

The Microsoft Donation Program was a godsend to Twilight Wish, enabling us to:

- Purchase eight licenses for Office 2007 at a reduced rate.

- The installation of Outlook has also greatly impacted our internal communications, reducing scheduling issues and increasing efficiency.

- MS-Excel has enabled us to streamline our donor and fundraising records.

- Increased the number of volunteers recruited.

- Assisted in our expansion, now Twilight Wish has regional offices in ten states.

- Enabled us to grant almost 200 new wishes since the installation.

- Enabled us to launch our new fundraising campaign, “Do Good, Feel Good,” and our Intergenerational Caring Program.

The Microsoft Impact Story award will enable us to continue our mission of honoring and enriching seniors through wish granting events connecting generations.