On Wednesday, December 11, Macy’s Burbank and Make-A-Wish Foundation L.A. held an event honoring Caitlin’s (a 15 year old who fought cancer and won) wish to travel to South Africa.
The event, held at Macy’s in Burbank, kicked off with two authentic African-American drummers and followed with performances by South African soul dancers.
Immediately after that it was time for Macy’s and Make-A-Wish to welcome Caitlin Lee, a Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm (BPDCN) survivor, which is one of the rarest types of cancer, Caitlin only being the 7th CHILD ever diagnosed with it.
Caitlin was greeted by Macy’s store manager, Shannon Giancotta, with a suitcase and a boarding pass for her and her family to travel to South Africa. Caitlin said “The reason I made a wish to go to South Africa is because that’s where my doctor is from” 
Before Caitlin went off to go write a letter to Santa, Make-A-Wish and Macy’s wanted to give her two more amazing gifts, The first being a $1,500 check for Caitlin to use on her trip to South Africa and the second was a closet of clothes picked out by Caitlin’s mom Kelly, who was overjoyed and so happy for her daughter.
At last it was time for Caitlin to write a letter to Santa along with her younger brother Justin, who both were so appreciative of everything.
Macy’s beloved “Believe” letter-writing campaign, in partnership with Make-A-Wish, seeks to capture the joy and generosity of the holiday season by asking the community to come together to help grant wishes for children with critical illnesses. From November 4 through December 24, 2019, Macy’s is asking customers of all ages to write their letters to Santa and drop them off in stores or submit them online at macys.com/believe. For every letter sent, Macy’s will donate $1, up to $1 million, to Make-A-Wish to help grant wishes for children battling critical illnesses.
Afterward, Caitlin said, “It’s been almost 3 years since I have been cancer free and what a journey it has been, I am so thankful to everyone at Make-A-Wish a Macy’s for everything that they have done” She also added a message to kids and teens that currently have cancer by saying “It’s one of the hardest things to deal with but you will get through this, positivity changes everything”
