By Emily Williams
When life hands Magic Moments a pandemic, it makes lemonade.
As the only wish-granting organization dedicated solely to children in Alabama, the need for magic moments has not lessened in the times of COVID-19.
“We have not missed a beat,” she said. “We have gotten very creative.”
The latest creation is a new annual fall fundraiser “You’ve Been Booed.”
Inspired by a similar fundraiser in Atlanta, Executive Director Sandy Naramore, Director of Development Robin Kidd and the crew have pulled together the fundraiser in a matter of months.
Folks can buy signs online through Oct. 16 at magicmoments.org/boo/ to be delivered to their homes. They, in turn, take the sign and a little Halloween treat or bag of candy and surprise their neighbors or friends with it.
“It’s like ring-and-run,” Naramore said. “You go put the sign in their yard, ring the doorbell and then run or hide behind a tree, because you want to see their expression.”
In return, Naramore hopes that the people who have been booed will “play it forward” and buy signs to put in other peoples’ yards.
“I think it is something that, year after year, you will see really expand,” she said. “This year we are only doing it in the Over the Mountain area. It’s only because of the time factor.”
The signs have sold so well that Naramore had to go back and order 100 more.
“Next year, we will focus on the Mobile-area, then Montgomery and eventually we’ll go statewide,” she said.
Naramore said the group’s goal this year is to make moments for 100 children, “so I’ve got to make sure we have the money for them.”
Applications for Magic Moments trickled in from April to about July.
“That is a direct reflection of the hospital staff working from home,” Naramore said. “Once the hospital brought their staff back in, the applications started rolling back in.”
There’s Always Another Way
Magic moment reveals are often a crowded affair, with kids surprised at the Birmingham Zoo or at a local school in front of an assembly.
“The most fun reveals that we have been doing recently are drive-by’s,” Naramore said.
A recent reveal sponsored by Lightfoot, Franklin & White was particularly memorable for Naramore. The recipient rode in a car downtown and passed the firm’s lawyers and staff lined up on the sidewalk for a block.
“They were holding up these professional signs that said … ‘You’re going to the beach,’ and the last one said, ‘and you’re leaving now,’” Naramore said. “They had the car all packed and ready to go.”
In June, the team was able to organize a trip to OWA, a theme park in Foley, for families in the program.
“We had families come from all over the state, because we were all so anxious to get to be together,” Naramore said.
The OWA staff also went the extra mile for the kids and their parents.
“They not only opened the doors to us, they gave us free admission, they gave every person with us lunch vouchers, they gave them refillable drink cups,” Naramore said. “Because it was so early in the pandemic, the park was basically empty except for us, so it was safe, and our families had the best time.”
One big sacrifice to COVID-19 has been the annual Beyond the Moment event, at which the staff invites their families to spend a weekend at Children’s Harbor at Lake Martin.
“We pushed it to Halloween and now I’ve had to make that hard decision that we just can’t take 200 people to the lake,” she said.
Instead, on Halloween Day, they will host a virtual camp in their Halloween costumes with live video streams of activities, including carving pumpkins and making cookies.
Similarly, the organization’s annual Breakfast with Santa in Birmingham and Mobile will be going virtual.
In terms of fundraising, early fall typically is packed with planning and events, including two clay shoots and several football-related kick-off events hosted by junior boards in Birmingham and in Montgomery.
“None of those are really happening,” Naramore said. “Our clay shoots even got pushed to the spring.”
She said she hopes the group can get back to its normal schedule next fall.
But in the meantime, the organization will host a reimagined BHM 26.2, its annual marathon. Originally it had been scheduled for April 19, but now it will be Oct. 4.
“It will be run 100% through the city of Homewood,” Naramore said. “Instead of having a full marathon, we’re only doing a half marathon and we’re doing a 5K.
“The precautions and protocols that are in place are unbelievable,” Naramore said.
The runners will take off in smaller groups and will be given masks that they can choose to wear while running. They also will be given a new mask at the finish line.
There won’t be an after party, but Jim ’N Nicks will be providing a sack lunch.
“The runners always get a mimosa,” Naramore said. “They will have a Tito’s Vodka miniature and a can of lemonade and a sack lunch. We don’t touch anything.”
Coca-Cola has even provided Disani water bottles for the water stations so runners can simply pick up a bottle on their own.
The race will start and finish in the Macy’s parking lot at Brookwood Village and there will be no spectators.
There will be some cheering. There will be about 10 Magic Moments children positioned at mile markers along the route to root for the runners.
The organization is accommodating this year’s circumstances in other ways, too. H&M Golf Cart Sales in Fairhope donated a “street legal” golf cart. And so the thought was, when life gives you a golf cart, create the first annual Golf Cart Drawdown.
Only 200 raffle tickets will be sold for $100 each, and a drawing will take place virtually on Oct. 21.
Tickets can be purchased on the donation page, at magicmoments.org/volunteer/give; write in the memo box that the donation is for a Golf Cart Drawdown ticket.
