MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Wings for Wishes event returns to South Florida

The event started small, but over the years, has raised enough money to grant approximately 400 wishes for South Florida children with critical illnesses.

South Miami's 10th annual Wings for Wishes event returned Saturday, raising money and awareness for Make-A-Wish Southern Florida.

The event featured face painting, bounce houses, live music, drinks and wings, including wing eating contests for local residents, members of the media, and top-ranked eating athletes. Members of the NBC6 and Telemundo51 teams were among those participating in the media wing-eating contest.

World Champion Competitive Eater Joey Chestnut was also in attendance for the Wings for Wishes Professional Wing Eating Championship.

The event started small, but over the years, has raised enough money to grant approximately 400 wishes for South Florida children with life-threatening medical conditions.

- Olivia Jaquith, NBC6 South Florida

"Make-A-Wish is one of the unique charities where you actually see the end result," Wings for Wishes Co-Founder Brian Exelbert said. "You can see a child, and most importantly, you see the changes around the child; the family, the community. So, one wish, people think, it touches one person. A wish can impact 15, 20 different people."

"We just keep doing it, and we keep doing it because we got people that really love and are passionate about this," Marques said. "Our Make-A-Wish team is amazing. They're some of the most incredibly passionate and talented people that we've had the opportunity to work with over all these years."

7’s team wins wing-eating competition for 2nd year in a row

The team on Saturday participated in the annual Wings for Wishes fundraiser at Sports Grill South Miami, located at 1559 Sunset Drive in Coral Gables.

Money raised by the wing eating competition will benefit Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, which grants wishes for children who have critical illnesses.

- Rubén Rosario, WSVN

After putting away 50 wings in about three minutes, Channel 7 took home the trophy for the second year in a row.

The Channel 7 team made wishes come true this weekend, one chicken wing at a time.

Make-A-Wish Southern Florida hosts ‘Wings for Wishes’ for critically ill children

“The Make-A-Wish Southern Florida Foundation hosted a special “Wings for Wishes” fundraising event Saturday to help grant life-changing wishes for critically ill children in South Florida.

The event included a wing-eating competition with the professionals from Major League Eating, a local media wing-eating contest including team members from Local 10 News, food and drink tasting stations, live music, a DJ, and plenty of fun and games for kids and adults alike.

- Local 10 News, Ryan Mackey

It was held at Sports Grill South Miami, at 1559 Sunset Dr.

According to a news release, the event featured competitive eating champion Geoffrey Esper and other top-ranked Major League Eating athletes who competed in the Wings for Wishes Professional Wing Eating Championship.

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9th Wings for Wishes held in South Miami; 7News team wins chicken wing competition

The ninth annual Wings for Wishes event raised money to help make children’s dreams come true.

The event, hosted by Sports Grill in South Miami, on Saturday morning, aimed to raise money for Make-A-Wish Southern Florida.

Members of the 7News team turned out to take part in the chicken wing eating contest. They won the media competition.

- 7 News WSVN

“This event does two things, really. One, it brings our community together in the act of doing good and doing kindness,” said Norman Wedderburn, CEO of Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. “I really believe that communities need this type of activities that really bring everybody together, to do something wonderful for someone else.”