Celebrating the ninth year of working together, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Cold Stone Creamery locations in Orange County and the Inland Empire will host a month-long fundraising celebration to benefit the foundation in the two regions. Throughout September, every Cold Stone store will sell paper wish stars for $1 each, leading up to the ninth-annual “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social” on Sept. 30. During the social, Cold Stone locations will give away three-ounce portions of Kate’s Creation from 5-8 p.m., while encouraging guests to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The star of this month's celebration is Kate, an 11-year-old from Tampa Bay, Fla. with a life-threatening congenital spinal cord condition, who wished to share an exclusive ice cream flavor she created with people across the country. Southern California Cold Stone Creamery locations and the Make-A-Wish Foundation invite the community to help make her wish come true.
 
Kate was inspired to become this year’s Cold Stone Creamery wish kid after she attended last year’s event. An ice cream connoisseur, Kate discovered that a wish kid has the responsibility to create an exclusive Creation for the World’s Largest Ice Cream Social.

When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked for her most heartfelt wish, she knew she was the perfect candidate for the position.
 
In March, Kate traveled to Cold Stone headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., to work with the Cold Stone Tastemaster to mix up this year’s Make-A-Wish Creation. Kate was named “Junior Tastemaster” as she invented Kate’s Creation: caramel apple ice cream mixed with graham cracker pie crust, chocolate shavings and apple pie filling. Her exclusive Creation will be featured at Cold Stone locations throughout September.
 
“This is the first time in Cold Stone’s history that the wish kid’s wish was to create a flavor specifically for this event,” says Mark Pilon, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County and the Inland Empire. “Guests who participate in the event and try Kate’s Creation will not only be helping Kate’s wish come true, they will also contribute to granting the wishes of seriously ill children in our area.”
 
52 stores will work together to raise funds for granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions throughout Orange County and the Inland Empire. Cold Stone Creamery has supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation since 2002, generating a total of more than $3.6 million in donations.