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Professional Bull Rider Ross Coleman Receives ‘Katie’s Star’ Award at Make-A-Wish® Fundraiser

Portland, Ore. –– On Saturday, October 25, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Oregon presented professional bull rider Ross Coleman the ‘Katie’s Star’ award for his dedication to the mission of granting wishes to local children with life-threatening medical conditions.  Ross received the 2nd annual award at the Foundation’s Food, Wine & Wishes gala auction – the chapter’s largest fundraising event of the year held at the Portland Art Museum. 

In just four years, the Ross Coleman Invitational – a professional bull riding event held in Molalla, Ore. – has raised more than $127,000 for the local Make-A-Wish chapter.  Ross and his dedicated staff have hosted this event and have engaged the very generous bull riding community to help the cause.

“We will do this [event] for as long as we can,” said Ross to the 400-plus guests at Food, Wine & Wishes when accepting ‘Katie’s Star’ from Terri Morris, Katie’s mother, and Andrew Asato, executive director of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon.

Ross and his dedicated staff have rallied the Professional Bull Riding (PBR) community and have shared the mission with that audience by hosting wish kids at the Molalla event each year.  In 2007, the Ross Coleman Invitational was recognized as the 2007 PBR Sanctioned Event of the Year.  Last summer, ESPN broadcast the Invitational from Molalla, which raised a record $50,000 for the local Make-A-Wish chapter. Ross also assisted in granting a Central Oregon child’s wish to attend the Professional Bull Riding Finals in Nevada by treating the wish kid like a VIP to make the experience a magical dream-come-true.

“My wish for you, Ross, is that you see the excellence in humanity that this award represents every time you look at it, and that you feel the good pride that can only come from something so humbling,” said Terri Morris, Katie’s mother, before presenting the award to the Molalla resident.  “On behalf of all Make-A-Wish families, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and especially Katie, thank you.” 

The 2nd annual Katie’s Star award was created in memory of Katie Morris who lost her battle with cancer in 2007.  Katie’s wish to meet the Seattle Mariners with her little league team was featured on ESPN’s “Sports Center,” where her story touched millions.  Katie’s Star is awarded each year to an individual that touches many lives and makes a lasting impact on the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, as Katie did. 

The Make-A-Wish Foundation® grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Born in 1980, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 67 chapters in the U.S. and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 167,000 wishes in the U.S. since inception. 

The local chapter serves children, ages 2 ½ through 17, just like Katie, living throughout Oregon and Clark County, Washington.  For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, please visit www.orwish.org or call the chapter office at 800-934-WISH to discover how you can share the power of a wish®

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