Rogers Hardware store was honored Friday for raising $6,000 for the Make A Wish program.

Make A Wish grants wishes to critically ill children through donations, many of which are campaigns in individual stores.

Rebecca Leaming of Make A Wish said Rogers Hardware raised enough funds to “adopt” a wish — that is, they raised enough money to pay for one child’s entire “wish” experience. Because they did so, they will learn about the specific child who gets his or her wish through the program.

Shoppers at the store were asked if they wanted to donate $1 for a star. Some of the stars bear the name of the donor, and many of them hung in the store on Friday. The star purchases raised $1,200.

Rogers also donated a stainlesssteel grill, and held a raffle for it.

They were about $50 short of the $6,000 goal when owner John Hitchborn agreed to kick in the difference.

Hitchborn, and three clerks who were instrumental in soliciting donations from shoppers — Jayne Ryan, Dawn Borie and Caitie Peaslee — were on hand to give the check to Leaming on Friday afternoon. A fourth clerk, Cheryl Frye, had also collected a large number of “star” donations, but was not at work that day.

As a motivation, manager Lori Seigars — a no-nonsense personality — said she’d wear a dress and heels and style her hair for the day.

The clerks met their goals, and Seigars reluctantly did her part.

“But it was worth it,” she laughed. “We’ve been able to collect enough money to give a wish to a seriously ill child. It was worth every blister.”

¦ REBECCA LEAMING of Make A Wish said Rogers Hardware raised enough funds to “adopt” a wish — that is, they raised enough money to pay for one child’s entire “wish” experience.