How we came to be:
We started a project a few years ago with our sponsor, the TGIFridays restaurant chain. We celebrate anything and everything 'Star Wars' related in a fan & family atmosphere and proceeds are given to Project: Wish Upon A Star, a children's cancer charity in which we fund a child's dream via Pop Culture events and/or technology or educational venues and 'projects'. Our first year we had our home location here in Fresno, CA. with a gathering of local fans and patrons. Our second year however, we were celebrating all for charity in 21 locations and now after our third year, we are moving into markets such as Arizona & Nevada. 2018 marks our 4th Annual gathering and it hopefully continues its popularity beyond, along with the fact of changing children's lives who are fighting cancer or other life-threatening conditions. NOW THAT'S A FORCE!
When we started this, we thought of all the fans first, then families that attend and then it occurred to me that it is a wonderful place and opportunity for our artists and celebrities to showcase their talents. The rest is history....
What it is:
We want a place in which celebrities, artists and fans can go in a family atmosphere for lunch or dinner and later for the adults raffles, wookie calls and other fun activities. We want an ALL-DAY Event where staff can dress up and be a part of the fandom, and also to raise awareness on our charity & work. We have been funding and working with Ronald McDonald Charities, Camp & Children's hospitals now for 15 years. We have made historic progress and many smiles along the way, with hopes of not only hosting a child once a year at a Comic Con venue as we do with Stan Lee every year, but also to create projects in which children love. It is all part of our 'positive reinforcement' in which a child can progress through treatment at a faster rate with higher success rates as well.
Our promise & potential:
For our "MAY the FANNIVERSARY!" event, we offer locations as a flexible option in which our artists and celebrities can appear. We don't ask for anything, percentages or even donations. We eventually would like to have a 'Special Guest' per venue/location in which we can promote, but at this time we are filling about 1 per 10 stores in which to promote our "special guests". Our artists, guest celebrities can set up and bring a variety of photos or art in which to sell and autograph and can stay as long as they like. Our individual locations take sales from food and non-alcoholic beverages and donate a portion directly to our charitable goals. It is in this way we can invite many artists to show their goods and promote their business without fees. Of course, some artists we ask to donate a photo, or craft in which we include in our "FANNIVERSARY" MAIN Raffle and per location giveaways.
CLICK HERE: https://projectwishuponastar.org/raffle
Southern California
Northern California
Central California
All celebrating their fandom for a cause. Our 4th Annual “May the FANniversary!” takes place every year on May 25th. We will have special guests, events, cosplayers and our HUGE event-wide raffle which brings in our necessary funding to do what we do best- provide unique experiences like our Project: SUPERHERO! programs to child patients right here in California.