Wish granted-Burks to tell story on TV today-Teen to appear on WSMV at 12:30 p.m.

Cancer survivor Natasha Burks, right, comforts her cousin, Casey Tolbert, who lost her father to cancer, at last year’s Relay for Life event. Natasha has visited Disney World through the auspices of the Make a Wish Foundation, tell her story on WSMV

A local teen will be among 14 children whose stories will be told today on WSMV in conjunction with the Make A Wish Foundation.

Rock Island’s Natasha Burks has been selected as one of 14 wish kids who will serve as ambassadors for this year’s campaign. She will appear today on WSMV’s ‘More at Midday’ (Channel 4 on Charter Cable) to tell her story.

Burks is an outgoing, high-spirited 18-year-old. She faced the challenges of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during her senior year in high school.

She adores all the Disney characters, so her wish to go to Disney World with her family was a natural. Favorite parts of her wish included meeting Shrek and dancing in the streets of ‘Give Kids the World.’

‘Words cannot express how much we appreciate the opportunity to tell Tasha’s wish story,’ said Tasha’s mother, Pam Hodges.

For more than 10 years, Make-A-Wish foundations in cities around the country have held similar Stories of Light events, raising much-needed funds for their local Make-A-Wish chapters. This is the fourth year the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee has launched a Stories of Light campaign. Each Story of Light is sponsored by local corporations and organizations in increments of $5,000 (the average cost of granting a child’s wish).

During the campaign, Tennesseans who wish to make a donation or a reservation for the Feb. 1 Celebration of Wishes Gala are encouraged to visit the Web site www.storiesoflight.net or call 1-888-492-WISH to make a donation by pledge or by credit card.

The Middle Tennessee Chapter of Make-A-Wish has granted more than 568 wishes in Middle Tennessee since the chapter was founded in 2000. Individuals interested in helping can visit the Make-A-Wish Web site at www.midtnwishes.org, call (615) 259-2324, or send donations to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee, 209 10th Avenue South, Suite 527, Nashville, TN, 37203.