dANDIElion Wishes is a non-profit that seeks to raise funds to help mental health organizations in the greater St. Louis area. The foundation was started in memory of Andie Goldford to address, destigmatize, and help support mental health research. We look to raise awareness about Andie's struggles, which so many other families face.
some see weeds, we see wishes
Registration Open!
The 4th annual dANDIElion Wishes Charity Walk is less than 3 months away and registration is open! We wanted to let you know where our donations will be going this year.
-Firstly, we will be awarding our 2nd recipient of the Andrea Jean Goldford Memorial Scholarship. We are in the process of working with UMSL to go through applications and we will have information on the recipient soon.
-Second, this year we will be donating a portion of our proceeds to Duo Dogs for Mental Health. Specially trained dogs visit patients in various locations around St. Louis to help bring comfort and healing.
-Lastly, all proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Annie’s Hope in loving memory of Andie’s dear friend Laura, who lost her battle with breast cancer in January. Annie’s Hope provides family support groups, school supports, summer camps, and other grief services for children of all ages having to deal with the loss of a parent.
We are so excited for the walk and hope you are too! Mark your calendars and register today!!
SAVE THE DATE-4th ANNUAL WALK
We'll be back in October for the 4th annual dANDIElion Wishes charity walk. Come see us on October 20th at the Tremayne Pavillion in Creve Coeur park for a morning of beignets, coffee, fantastic raffle items, fabulous balloon twisting, fun music, and of course, Sandy's Damn Good Cookies.
Brian from Premier Entertainment will be back for another year of twisting amazing balloon creations and we'll also be providing treats from Beignet All Day for all registrants! The sunflower scavenger hunt will be back again to give the kids some extra fun during the walk, and as always we'll be playing music and raffling off some fantastic prizes!
3RD ANNUAL DANDIELION WISHES WALK-
We were so proud to have raised over $12,000 to pour back into the community at the 3rd annual walk in October 2023.
This money was split between CHADS Coalition, the Andrea Jean Goldford Memorial Scholarship Fund, and ZAKA.
CHADS continues to use our funds to go back into schools and support mental health for teens, ZAKA provides crisis counseling and trauma support for Jewish youths suffering from PTSD, and the scholarship fund is able to ease costs for a student studying social work at UMSL.
We are so thankful to all of you for making this work possible in Andie's name!
ANDREA JEAN GOLDFORD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
We are pleased to announce that the first recipient of the Dandielion Wishes Andrea Jean Goldford Memorial Scholarship has been selected!
Our candidate is currently working towards obtaining her Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Missouri St. Louis and will be specializing in mental healthcare. Her interest in learning about and improving mental healthcare access stems from her own experiences. She shared with us - "My own family has a complex mental health and substance use background, so my passion for this field comes from a deep well of hope for a better future for all of us."
We look forward to meeting her this fall at the Scholarship luncheon. She is a great fit for the vision of our organization, and we are proud to have her representing Dandielion Wishes in creating a better tomorrow for people in need!
2ND WALK WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
The Second Annual dANDIElion Wishes walk was a great success! Almost 200 people joined us on a beautiful October morning to raise funds for mental health, and remember our Andie.
Through your generosity we have nearly $13,000 to pour back into our community. This money will go far towards supporting various mental health organizations around St. Louis.
From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU to all of our amazing supporters.
CHADS DONATION
Thanks to your generous support we were able to make another large donation to CHADS Coalition for Mental Health-this time for $10,000. This organization is doing incredible work in our community to support mental health in our area's youth. Our board members personally know several children receiving help from CHADS counselors and the services they offer are truly life changing. We are so happy and proud to be supporting such a positive influence in our community; and are so grateful to YOU to allow us to do so.
CHADS COALITION DONATION
On May 6th dANDIElion Wishes made our first donation of $5000 to the CHADS Coalition for Mental Health. We met with the founder of the CHADS Organization, Marian, as well as several other directors within the organization. CHADS is a St. Louis based organization offering adolescents and their families support and awareness for suicide prevention, depression, counseling services, and educational programs.
We also donated a basket, complete with a dANDIElion Wishes mug, for their silent auction on May 14th for their bi-annual fundraiser.
We enjoyed meeting Marian, and were excited to make our first donation in Andie's honor. We were also tickled to hear that she outbid everyone on the dANDIElion Wishes basket we donated to their trivia night silent auction!
We have other exciting prospects on the horizon as we are in the process of planning a charity walk in the fall, once parks open back up. We’ll keep you posted as that develops, and we are designing our first tshirt as a part of this event.
Thank you to everyone who donated and made this donation to CHADS possible!
APRIL IS DONATE LIFE MONTH
April is National Donate Life Month. This observance helps to encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to honor those that have saved lives through the gift of donation. Andie had registered for organ donation when she first got her license! By doing this, she made the decision for us, and was able to provide this amazing gift to many others.
We have green DONATE LIFE wristbands available for anyone who would like one to show their support for organ donation. Please notify us via email or Facebook messenger if you would like one.
Finally, we want to share an excerpt from a beautiful letter we received from the recipient of Andie's liver:
“ 'WE HAVE A LIVER FOR YOU!' ”
Those words are life-changing! To me, they were a miracle and my hope that a new life was ahead. Meanwhile, your family had sorrow and grief for their loss of a loved one. YOUR LOVED ONE’S LIVER HAS PROVIDED ME WITH A NEW LIFE! How appreciative my family and I are for the donated liver. Our families are forever bonded!"
REGISTRATION OPEN!
The 4th annual dANDIElion Wishes Charity Walk is less than 3 months away and registration starts TODAY! We want to share where some of the proceeds will be going this year.
Firstly, we will be awarding our 2nd recipient of the Andrea Jean Goldford Memorial Scholarship. We are in the process of working with UMSL to go through applications and we will have information on the recipient soon.
Second, this year we will be donating a portion of our proceeds to Duo Dogs for Mental Health. Specially trained dogs visit patients in various locations around St. Louis to help bring comfort and healing.
Lastly, all proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Annie’s Hope in loving memory of Andie’s dear friend Laura, who lost her battle with breast cancer in January. Annie’s Hope provides family support groups, school supports, summer camps, and other grief services for children of all ages having to deal with the loss of a parent.
We are so excited to see you all again for the walk on October 20th! Mark your calendars and register today!
"When it's too hard to look back, and you're too afraid to look ahead, look right beside you and I'll be there"
