Hero of the Week: Teen sells handmade 'Ornaments for Hope' to benefit Make-A-Wish Maine

 It's awesome to see teenagers and young adults make a difference to unselfishly help others. That's what today's Hero of the week is all about. A young adult from Maine who uses his talent to raise money to help others. Here's his story:

(Photo: Brayden Bashaw, 18, of Auburn, Maine. Credit: News center Maine)

Teen sells handmade 'Ornaments for Hope' to benefit Make-A-Wish Maine 

Author: Hannah Yechivi (NEWS CENTER Maine) , November 21, 2023

AUBURN, Maine — If you are looking to make a difference this holiday season, we have an idea for you.

Brayden Bashaw, 18, of Auburn, is running a fundraiser benefiting the Make-A-Wish Maine.

Bashaw has been selling his handmade ornaments since he was 9 years old, and throughout the years he's raised more than $100,000 for the foundation, which grants wishes to kids and teens who have life-threatening diseases.

To sell his ornaments, Bashaw has organized a big event at Gritty McDuff's Brew Pub in Auburn. The event will happen Friday, Dec. 1, starting at 4:30 p.m.

The handmade ornaments range from $2 to $10. There will also be a silent auction, a 50-50 raffle, fresh Christmas cookies for sale that Bashaw's grandmother makes, and more.

Bashaw is looking to raise money to make sure as many kids as possible in Maine can get their wishes granted through the nonprofit. For him, giving back during the holiday season is the right thing to do.

"The impact that a wish can have on a kid and the kid's family with a critical illness is astonishing, and it's something that can give a kid hope who is maybe having a tough time and the family as well," Bashaw explained. "It has a huge impact on the family, and as soon as I heard that, I immediately knew I needed to do whatever possible I could for them."

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/nUrvmS5bWFE?si=xoJcWTvH76hsZxHV

**********************************

If you can't make it to next week's event but you'd like to make a donation to Bashaw's effort, click here for his online fundraiser.

"Last year, to my surprise, the wish family that I was able to give the money for the previous year, they surprised me and they showed up at my event last year," he said. "And being able to have a conversation with the kid that I helped was a full circle moment, and that moment right there made all my hard work worth it, because this event takes an insane amount of time to plan and a huge effort, and that right there made it all worth it."