Make-A-Wish Holiday Ambassador Jimmy Briaddy and Northeastern New York Make-A-Wish Chief Operations Officer Robert Bullock open the money Jimmy raised during his campaign. His mother, Minda Briaddy, back left, and Bonnie Magro, who sold stars for the campaign out of her Little Italy restaurant, look on. (Enterprise photo — Jesse Adcock)

SARANAC LAKE — Over the course of his holiday campaign, local Make-A-Wish ambassador Jimmy Briaddy nearly doubled his funding goal for the nonprofit group that grants wishes to kids suffering from serious illnesses.

Recruiting local businesses to sell stars and fundraising in village schools, the 9-year-old raised $1,812.36. He had set out in November to raise $1,000.

“Raising money isn’t easy,” Jimmy said. “It’s pretty special. So over the month we just kept raising and raising, and the jar got more full.”

In Little Italy on Monday, Jimmy presented northeastern Make-A-Wish Chief Operations Officer Robert Bullock with the money he raised along with the help of his mother, Minda Briaddy.

Restaurateur Bonnie Magro said selling stars out of Little Italy was not hard — most people jumped at the chance to donate.

“They were excited as soon as they heard about it,” Magro said.

The Christmas tree she kept in the restaurant over the holidays was almost entirely decorated with stars for Jimmy, she said.

“Make-A-Wish is one of the top 10 most trusted not-for-profit brands in America because so many people understand our story, but nobody tells it better than the wish kids themselves,” Bullock said. “So we just had to come and personally acknowledge that. Because it’s an extraordinary act from an extraordinary young man.”

One of the things Bullock said Make-A-Wish tries to communicate is the positive health benefits of a wish. He cited a study by Dr. Anup Patel and other researchers out of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio.

Patel and other researchers studied the medical records of nearly 1000 kids, half of whom did receive a wish, and half who didn’t. After examining their records 12 months before and 12 months after the wish, they found that children who had their wish granted had improved health outcomes.

“We have three words that we associate with each wish. It’s hope, strength and joy,” Bullock said. “For kids that are going through, in some cases, extraordinarily difficult treatments, you know, for them to have something to look forward to outside of another treatment, another series of tests, another doctor’s visit, it’s just so incredibly important to them.”

Bullock mentioned another child soon to have his wish granted — Tiago, from Miami, Florida. Bullock said the child, who is suffering from a brain tumor, wants to see snow. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is flying him up here in February. On the 15th it’s planned for Tiago to go bobsledding, snowboard and meet some Olympic athletes in Lake Placid and Wilmington, Bullock said.

To donate, visit http://wish.org/