Candy company finds a sweet way to help grant wishes for children with critical illnesses

(BPT) – Did you know that July 20 was National Lollipop Day? Make sure to add that date to next year’s calendar! On that sweet and special day this past summer, IT’SUGAR, the largest specialty candy retailer, celebrated the occasion by discovering an extra sweet way to help children facing critical illnesses, in partnership with Make-A-Wish®. For these children, a wish is a turning point in their medical journey that opens the door to exciting possibilities. With a wish, a child is empowered to reclaim their childhood and build the motivation needed to persevere — and envision a brighter future.Life-changing wishes are possible thanks to the generous support of Make-A-Wish donors and their partners, like IT’SUGAR. With their new ‘Pop’ It Forward initiative, the fun and festive specialty candy company invited customers to have a blast while also helping make kids’ wishes come true by purchasing exclusive Wish Pops — colorful, star-shaped lollipops that are as vibrant as they are delicious — for themselves, their friends, their family or even the person behind them in line to ‘Pop’ It Forward.For every $1 Wish Pop sold, $.20 of the proceeds are going toward helping to make even more transformative wishes come true for children across the country. The National Lollipop Day special event was made extra special this year by inviting wish alumni to come and participate in a “candy raid” at its flagship store in the nationally renowned American Dream entertainment district in New Jersey.During the “candy raid,” wish alumni glowed with joy as they explored the massive three-story IT’SUGAR store and all its sugary sweet offerings, including amazing towering sculptures of horses and mushrooms made out of jelly beans, countless aisles chock full of colorful treats, candies, novelties and plush toys, a lollipop garden and much more.Wish alum and cancer survivor Erin grinned with excitement as she shared the many ways that her wish to go to a Rolling Stones concert has impacted her life, and her excitement about the ‘Pop’ It Forward initiative.“It’s really awesome that a cool store like IT’SUGAR is helping to support kids like me,” Erin said. “I’m so excited to see many more wishes come true for other kids!”Other wish children who attended the event were:Geneseis, 16 — wished for a beach vacation in Ocean CityOlivia, 14 — wished to go to a theme parkKnighten, 10 — wished to travel to HawaiiAvery, 13 — wished to go to ParisBridget, 14 — wished to visit LondonSince 2019, IT’SUGAR has helped grant wishes for children by raising more than $810,000 for Make-A-Wish through the sale of their Wish Pops. And through this year’s new ‘Pop’ it Forward campaign, the company aims to raise $1 million before the end of the year to restore hope and joy for children and their families when they need it most.Want to help make even more wishes come true for children with critical illness today? You can make a difference by purchasing some Wish Pops at your nearest IT’SUGAR location, or online at ITSUGAR.com.