Wish Weeks at Eagle County high schools raise nearly $45,000 and counting for Make-A-Wish Colorado
9-year-old Zuri, of Glenwood Springs, will see her wish granted to meet her favorite singer
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
The Eagle Valley High School gym was loud with the sound of 1,000 students chanting: “Let’s go, Zuri.”
This past week was Eagle Valley High School’s 9th annual Wish Week. The high schoolers organize and participate in a plethora of events designed to build school spirit and, most importantly, to raise funds for Make-A-Wish Colorado.
On March 25, the entire high school welcomed Eagle Valley High School’s ninth “wish kid,” a local child with a critical illness selected by Make-A-Wish Colorado whose wish will be granted through funds the high school’s students raise.
This year, 9-year-old Zuri, of Glenwood Springs, was Eagle Valley High School’s wish kid.
Two years ago, Zuri was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome, a heart rhythm condition. “I’m so lucky because I can still play, run, jump and stand, but I just need to pay a little bit more attention to my heart,” Zuri said. “I think we can all do that.”
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Despite the serious nature of her condition, Zuri is energetic and loves to dance, play, and, most notably, sing.
“Even with everything that Zuri has gone through in her world, if you spend five minutes with her, you would see that she is still just a kid,” said Zuri’s dad, Steven. “She laughs a lot, she sings everywhere, not just in the shower, she climbs on everything.”
Zuri’s wish is to meet her favorite singer. Thanks to the fundraising efforts of Eagle Valley High School students, and students around the county, she will get to see that wish come true this year.
“For our family, this wish really means a lot. It’s not just meeting someone famous,” Steven said. “It’s giving Zuri something joyful to look forward to. Something to remind us that even when it rains, look for the rainbow. Zuri told me to say that.”
During Wish Week, Eagle Valley High School’s students join together through a series of games and activities to embrace the wish kid and their family, raise money and have fun.
“We try to get everyone to come together to raise money for these really incredible people in our community,” said Payton Adkins, a junior and co-head of Wish Week. “They are just normal families, and this crazy thing happens to them, but it’s an amazing thing when they get to have people help them and feel supported and loved.”
Eagle Valley High School’s Wish Week 2026 activities included ice skating, trivia, volleyball, pickleball, spikeball, basketball and dodgeball. These were complemented by activities during the assemblies that bookended the week, which pitted students from different grades — and sometimes faculty members — against each other in challenges like Twister and a scavenger hunt-style Devil Duel.
“I think seeing the community come together and getting to see people get excited about helping raise money to grant kids wishes” makes Wish Week special, said Kennedy Waltz, an Eagle Valley High School sophomore and co-head of Wish Week.
This year marked Eagle Valley High School’s ninth Wish Week. Over the last eight years, students have raised over $185,000 and granted wishes for 24 Coloradan kids.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Eagle Valley High School had raised nearly $20,000 during Wish Week 2026, with t-shirt sales ongoing and online donations still accepted.
Steven thanked the students at Eagle Valley High School for “showing up” and “being a part of something a lot bigger than yourselves.”
“What Eagle Valley High School is doing, and what they have done, by my understanding, for the last eight years, is nothing short of spectacular,” Steven said.
Battle Mountain High School, which held its first-ever Wish Week this winter, raised $25,000.
In 2025, Colorado had the largest student-led Make-A-Wish fundraising program in the country. More than 250 schools across Colorado participated in Make-A-Wish’s “Kids For Wish Kids” program, raising more than $2.1 million to help grant life-changing wishes to 285 Colorado kids with critical illnesses.
“Thank you for helping make my wish come true, and all of the other kids’ wishes, too,” Zuri said.
