Jackson Free Press

Derick Wright, founder and chief executive officer of Jackson-based nonprofit Wright's Foundation for Better Communities, is holding a holiday car raffle until Dec. 23.

Wright's Foundation aims to improve Jackson by helping the city's youth and homeless population through activities such as clothing and toiletry drives, holding community cleaning sessions and making improvements to parks and other city landmarks.

The car Wright is raffling is a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which Wright says is the first car he was able to purchase after pulling himself up from being homeless roughly six years ago.

"This car helped me get back on my feet when I got it, and now I want to give it to someone else to give them that kind of fortune," Wright says.

At the time he purchased the car, Wright was homeless and had little money to his name. A family friend allowed Wright to purchase the car from him in installments because he understood his situation and trusted him, Wright says. Acquiring a vehicle helped Wright to find work, pay off his debts and become financially stable, allowing him to rent an apartment.

"After that, I sat down one day and started writing about how blessed I felt, wondering how I could help others who were going through similar things as I did," Wright says. "I ended up writing a two-page mission statement, after which I spent three years studying philanthropy and decided to launch the Wright Foundation in October 2018."

Participants can register for the raffle virtually by emailing their phone number or email address to [email protected] to receive a raffle ticket. Tickets are $10, but anyone who likes or shares the Wright Foundation's Facebook post on the raffle will receive free entry. Wright will announce the winner on Dec. 24 and deliver the car to the winner's home on Christmas morning.

For more information, call 769-257-0073 or visit https://wfbc-inc.business.site/.

Outlets of Mississippi Hosting Season of Wishes Fundraiser for Make-A-Wish

The Outlets of Mississippi launched its “Season of Wishes” fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Mississippi on Sunday, Nov. 22. The event aims to collect $3,500 in donations through Dec. 22 to grant Wish Kid Emma, a 17-year-old cancer patient from Magnolia, Miss., a shopping spree.

Participants can make donations by purchasing a Wish STAR at the Outlets' Visitor Services center or scanning a QR code posted on the windows of select stores at the Outlets. Customers can also donate online at www.MakeAWishSOW.org.

"Normally by this time of year the Make-a-Wish foundation has already granted roughly 90 wishes," Shanna Head, director of marketing for the Outlets, told the Jackson Free Press. "However, many wishes involve travel, which simply isn't safe at this time due to COVID-19 pandemic, so they've only been able to grant half as many wishes this year. That's why it's so important to us to be able to raise money to grant this one wish."

For more information, call 769-972-3000 visit outletsofms.com or the Outlets of Mississippi Facebook page.

Children’s of Mississippi Switching to Virtual Holiday Toy Drive

Children’s of Mississippi, the pediatric arm of University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, recently announced that it is making changes to its annual holiday toy drive due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 event is going virtual, and the hospital is requesting that donors purchase from online wish lists of toys from Amazon and Walmart rather than dropping off toys in-person onsite.

The hospital provides a gift bag to every child aged 18 or younger during the holidays, with the toys selected based on each child's age and interests. Children's of Mississippi also accepts toy donations year-round for patients hospitalized on their birthday and for completing a treatment.

For more information, visit umc.edu/inkinddonations.