The Luxaire® brand of Johnson Controls served as a co-presenting sponsor for the annual Milwaukee Walk For Wishes® event hosted by Make-A-Wish® Wisconsin on Aug. 26. The event raised over $250,000 for Wisconsin children.

Walk For Wishes® is a nationwide Make-A-Wish fundraiser that celebrates more than 285,000 wishes that have already been granted, while raising funds for future wishes. The family-friendly event, powered by wish families, volunteers, donors and friends, was held in Milwaukee’s Henry W. Maier Festival Park and included a 5K walk and run, one-mile walk, wheelchair race, and kid’s activities.

Angela Bonovich, brand manager at Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls, led a team of participants from Johnson Controls and local Luxaire distributor Design Air LLC.

“As a long-standing partner of Make-A-Wish, we enjoy finding ways to give back to our community,” Bonovich said. “Walk For Wishes allows us to do that, as we join our channel partners and work for this important cause.”

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children diagnosed with critical illnesses in the United States and its territories, on average, every 34 minutes. For the child receiving a wish, the experience can be transformative, giving the child a renewed hope and strength to confront, and even overcome, their medical challenges.

2017 marks the seventh year Johnson Controls has participated in the Milwaukee Walk For Wishes event, first as a sponsor in 2011 and as a presenting sponsor since 2012. However, the company’s relationship with the wish-granting organization goes back to 2001. Since that time, the Luxaire brand has donated more than $3.7 million to 23 chapters in the organization — enough to help grant 509 wishes to children.

In addition to supporting a variety of fund-raising activities, donations from Luxaire help to grant individual wishes in local communities nationwide. Examples of the many wishes already granted with the help of Luxaire distributors include a trip to Paris, a snowy vacation in Colorado, swimming with sharks in Hawaii, digging for dinosaurs in Montana, a bedroom makeover, and the construction of a backyard castle.

“The Luxaire brand, along with its distributors and dealers, appreciates the opportunity to help make wishes like these come true,” said Bonovich. “I’m always amazed and proud of our ability as a company to make a positive difference in the lives of children and their families, even as we give our customers an important reason to choose the Luxaire brand.”

For more information about Make-A-Wish or to find out how to support Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, visit www.wisconsin.wish.org.