Macy's Helps Grant Shopping Spree Wish For Local Seven-Year-Old

This week, Macy’s celebrates National Believe Week by doubling its donation to Make-A-Wish as part of Macy’s annual Believe letter-writing campaign. From the start of the Believe campaign through its final day on Dec. 24, for every letter sent to Santa online at macys.com/believe or dropped off in Macy’s stores, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million.

During National Believe Week, from this past Sunday, November 28th through Saturday, December 4th, Macy’s has pledged $2 for each letter collected (up to an extra $1 million above the existing $1 million campaign goal) to help children fighting critical illnesses’ life-changing wishes come true.

The annual campaign provides vital funds needed to continue to create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses, like seven-year-old Gia, whose wish for a shopping spree came true last week with the help of Macy’s.

“Gia was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July of 2019,” her mother Heather shared. “She was extremely sick for over a month and we brought her to many doctors and hospitals and were constantly being sent home saying she will be fine. After the doctor told us it was a brain tumor, everything was like a blur because she was immediately sent in for an MRI and had an emergency craniotomy 6 hours later.”

After 18 months had passed since her first surgery, Gia’s family would again receive the devastating news that her tumor had returned.

“The second surgery was harder for Gia than the first, because she was more aware of what was happening,” Heather continued. “After that surgery she has been having MRIs every 3 months and so far, so good. We pray constantly that this part of our lives is over and that there will be no more surgeries. She goes for her next MRI on December 9th.”

When Gia was asked that life-changing question, “if you could have one wish what would it be?” she knew that a day of shopping at her favorite stores – including Macy’s – would be exactly what she needed.

“Macy's was absolutely amazing!” Heather shared. “They made her feel so special. They had a sign made up with her name on it and they did her makeup and gave her a crown. She truly felt like a princess! The staff was incredible, they heard that Gia's favorite color was purple, so a ton of the employees wore purple that day! We were so touched by all the little details that Macy’s and their staff did to make Gia feel special. One of the staff members made Gia a purple bracelet which was beautiful!”

Gia was treated to a makeup session at Macy’s followed by a VIP shopping experience with two Macy’s employee escorts for her entire experience to assist Gia in finding anything she wanted.

“I can't say enough good things about her experience, the kindness was so heartwarming,” Heather continued. “I have been shopping at Macy's my whole life and knew that Gia would love it like I do. This is the most amazing experience, for kids going through a hard time medically to bring some joy to their lives and it absolutely exceeded all of Gia's expectations. She had a smile on her face the entire day. There are not enough words to thank everyone that made Gia's wish possible. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for doing what you do!”

Since 2003, Macy’s has donated more than $137 million to Make-A-Wish, including more than $25 million through the retailer’s annual Believe campaign, helping grant more than 16,200 wishes for children like Gia, and impact more than 3.2 million people including wish kids and their families, volunteers, community groups, medical professionals and more.

National Believe Week returns this year providing customers the opportunity to double their donations ($2 per letter, up to an additional $1 million) for a full week from Sunday, Nov. 28 through Saturday, Dec. 4. In celebration, Macy’s stores, Make-A-Wish chapters and community partners across the country will host digital and in-store letter parties and large letter drop offs at Macy’s stores and through Macy’s Curbside Pickup. In addition to writing letters to Santa, find writing guides, local wish stories and more at macys.com/believe. Join the conversation on social by tagging @macys, @makeawish and #MacysBelieve.