Event was a fundraiser for Make a Wish Foundation

MONTE VISTA — On Friday, Dec. 16, Alta Fuels in Monte Vista had a special visitor, the Grinch, as part of a “Make a Wish Foundation” fundraising event. Children could have their pictures taken with the Grinch for $5 and the money went to the “Make a Wish Foundation.” 

Store Manager Amanda Velasquez said every year Alta participates in the Make a Wish charity.

“Pictures with the Grinch is something we came up with this year to help raise money,” Velasquez said. “This year we have the pictures with the Grinch, we have a bake sale going on and we are also raffling off a flat screen TV. This is all for a very good cause. We have a bunch of different things going on for the foundation, but the Grinch is doing really well. This is something that the whole chain of Altas does as a big contribution to the foundation. We do this from November through December. This year we have almost doubled what we made last year. Our Southern Division has made over $99,000 in donations for the foundation.” 

The Make a Wish Foundation supports children diagnosed with a critical illness. The foundation grants wishes to children with the donations. For example, Christopher Greicius, a 7-year-old boy who was battling Leukemia wished to become a police officer. In 1980, his community came together to make his dream come true. He received an outfit and a badge and an honorary salute from his local police department. Christopher passed away at 7 years old, but with his wish came the inspiration behind the foundation. 

The foundation, according to its website, has granted hundreds of thousands of wishes to critically ill children. 

Alta has partnered with the Make a Wish foundation since 2014. The first year Alta raised $38,788 in donations for the foundation.

The Grinch, played by Samuel Alarid, laughed and said he was excited about being a part of the pictures for the foundation.

“I think this is fun, its cute to see the kids’ reactions. This is for a really good cause too,” he said.   

Two-year-old Harper Albert walked into the Alta convenience store in Mone Vista with her grandmother Melissa Vigil to have her picture taken with the Grinch. She was happy taking a picture in grandma’s lap and the two ladies with her grandmother said that they had all pitched in for pictures of Harper to help the foundation and they thought it was for a good cause as well.