October 6, 2021
Volunteering with Children’s HeartLink is a family affair for Wendy Cushing.
“My father was with the organization for many years,” Wendy says. John Cushing served as Children’s HeartLink’s international program director for almost three decades. “This inspired my oldest sister Courtney to start working for the company. I started volunteering there when I was 21 years old,” Wendy says.
Though Wendy’s father, John, retired from Children’s HeartLink in 2010, Wendy’s work with the organization continues, and she is a steadfast volunteer at Children’s HeartLink’s largest fundraising event of the year.
In 2021, Wendy is helping Children’s HeartLink during our in-person event, Global (re)Gathering, in Minneapolis. After putting our in-person 2020 gala on hold, Children’s HeartLink hopes to gather all the supporters again – in-person and virtually.
“It’s been a family tradition to not only work with Children’s HeartLink but to support its mission. I volunteer because I am inspired by what Children’s HeartLink does,” Wendy explains. “This work puts a smile on the faces of so many lives they’ve touched. I couldn’t imagine a world without Children’s HeartLink.”
“I volunteer at Children’s HeartLink because this organization allows others to have a fighting chance in a place where they may have never had that opportunity. Due to this organization, I was adopted. If my father hadn’t traveled to Honduras where I lived, I may have never had an opportunity to come to the USA,” adds Wendy.
In 2021, Wendy is passing on the tradition and value of volunteerism to her 10-year-old daughter, Mira, who will also be volunteering at the year event. Wendy looks forward to having her daughter learn more about CHL’s mission and feel the inspiration and passion for helping children around the world the way Wendy does.
“Volunteering for Children Heartlink is not only rewarding but also entertaining. I get the opportunity to meet wonderful people. I get to meet some of the children that they’ve operated on and talk to the surgeons who helped save their lives,” Wendy says of volunteering at the event. “I get to be part of something amazing worth telling others about.”
Pictured: Our steadfast volunteer at Children’s HeartLink fundraising events, Wendy and her daughter Mira.
