Find Your Passion and Make It Your Future
About this month’s cover model
By Annette Pinder
Kate Glaser grew up in North Tonawanda with her parents, three brothers, and three sisters. It was a fun and happy home, and Kate hopes that she and her husband Brian can provide that same joyful experience to their four-year-old twins, Evelyn and Greyson, and four-month-old Isla, who did not appear in the cover photo.
Kate always wanted to be a reporter. “My mom would encourage me to watch Disney movies or turn the television channel to cartoons. Instead, I insisted on watching Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley on The Today Show.” When her first-grade class participated in a career day dress-up, Kate wore a little skirt, glasses, and carried a microphone and notepad, ready to report on the days’ events. She majored in Broadcast Journalism at Buffalo State College, while working full-time as a producer at Channel 4. After graduating, she became a reporter for Spectrum YNN in Rochester and Buffalo.
After leaving Spectrum, Kate worked as the Marketing Manager for WNY’s Make-A-Wish. Kate’s sister was diagnosed with kidney cancer at age six. “Cancer changed our entire way of living. Make-A-Wish and Roswell Park stepped up to help our family. My sister is fine now, but I wanted to return to where my own family received help,” said Kate.
Kate is now Brand and Communications Manager at Make-A-Wish, where she helps grant wishes to children between the ages of 2.5 to 18 years. “One little boy who was hard of hearing and fighting cancer, wished for waterproof hearing aids so that he and his father could go swimming together on weekends at the community pool,” recalled Kate. She also remembers wish recipient Mariana, a teenager blindsided by a rare bacterial infection that ran wild in her body, resulting in a massive stroke, three brain surgeries, and open-heart surgery. Mariana’s wish was to share her journey toward recovery by writing a book. You can find Mariana’s book, “If Your Head Can’t, Your Heart Will . . . But What If That’s Broken Too?” at amazon.com, in which she expresses her love and appreciation for the little things that make life so precious.
One day, while listening to the radio during a road trip with her husband Brian and the twins, Kate learned of the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas. More than 1,000 rounds of ammunition were fired killing 60 people and wounding 411. It was the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in modern U.S. history. Shortly thereafter, Kate founded Hope Rises. “I knew it was time to start igniting hope through stories of love and goodwill by highlighting real-life everyday heroes.” Kate has since been able to make wishes come true, not just for children, but for people of all ages, and has raised more than $100,000 for causes she believes in.
Life during the pandemic hasn’t been easy for Kate. Diagnosed with COVID while 39 weeks pregnant with Isla, Kate says, “I have no idea how I got it. I was so careful. I sobbed when I tested positive, not knowing what to expect. I returned home and isolated from my twins and my husband, who never got it.” Kate suffered from fevers, chills, body aches, a sore throat, and chest tightness and burning for two weeks. She delivered baby Isla with her mask on and supported with oxygen. She wants everyone to know that COVID is real and that it is serious. She says, “Masking is so critical. It is so important to protect one another. This virus is so isolating. I can’t imagine being on a ventilator in the hospital, and not being able to see your family.” Kate finally tested negative after six weeks and says, “There is no question that I will 100 percent, without hesitation, get the vaccine when it is available.”
When they aren’t working, Kate and Brian enjoy spending time outdoors daily with their children. They love finding new places to hike and look forward to enjoying date nights at their favorite restaurants when it is safe to do so. For now, Kate is trying to stay in shape, enjoys running, and looks forward to participating again in half-marathons. Her best advice to others? Find your passion in life and make it your future.
Learn more about Make-A-Wish at https://wish.org/newyork. Learn more about Hope Rises at www.HopeRisesNews.com and at www.facebook.com/hoperisesnews. Also, see Kate’s recent interview with the New York Times about her COVID experience at https://nyti.ms/34aJeGd.
