{"id":11933,"date":"2024-03-11T18:36:07","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T18:36:07","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Hometown-Hero-Make-a-Wish-Emily-Ricard-54246439\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=11933","title":{"rendered":"Effort,\u00a0kindness\u00a0and generosity make Emily Ricard an asset to the community\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Emily<\/a>
Emily Ricard, a Boscawen native and 2014 graduate of Merrimack Valley High School, stands in front of one of the Gold Medal Flower ghost signs on the side of Phenix Hall in downtown Concord on Friday, March 8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Emily Ricard makes wishes, big wishes, come true.<\/p>\n

Last spring, for example, a little boy with a rare form of cancer got his wish, a trip to Disney World. He had fun and is now feeling better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe update is that he is doing well,\u201d said Ricard, who works at Bangor Savings Bank. \u201cHe\u2019s in remission.\u201d <\/p>\n

She\u2019s also the chairwoman of the Concord Young Professionals Network, promoting growth and creating networking opportunities for those 18 to 40 years old.<\/p>\n

Kayleigh Greene, who owns Legacy Marketing and Design in Concord, nominated Ricard to be a Monitor Hometown Hero in part for her work with the young professionals network.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this capacity, Emily facilitates the growth of over 1,700 young professionals in the Capital region, fostering connections, and providing valuable learning and networking opportunities. Her commitment to the development of these young professionals is truly commendable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ricard is a Boscawen native and 2014 graduate of Merrimack Valley High School. She moved to Sunapee for a job in banking before moving to Concord, continuing her work while working for Make-A-Wish and other altruistic programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer tireless efforts, kindness, and generosity make her an invaluable asset to the community of Concord,\u201d Greene wrote.<\/p>\n

Through Make-A-Wish, she plans entire trips and even accompanies the children to the airport for takeoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou build the wish,\u201d Ricard said. \u201cWe can take it fast or we can take it slow. Sometimes we can raise the money and get it done within a few weeks. Other times it could be a few months.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ricard said Make-A-Wish always raised enough money in her experience to afford any gift request.<\/p>\n

\u201cA trip to Hawaii,\u201d Ricard said, \u201ca new tree house, a pool, a trampoline, campers, a dog.\u201d <\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Ricard also works in the Circle Program, which pairs low-income girls with mentors. The girls attend a summer camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the little sister-big sister program,\u201d Ricard noted.<\/p>\n

As someone who appreciates local history, and is a Concord-area native, Ricard enjoys finding the often-looked-over nooks and crannies around the city that most pass by each day without a thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are hidden gems,\u201d Ricard said. \u201cAnd a Concord native won\u2019t know about it until you\u2019re exposed.\u201d <\/p>\n

She cited the leftover advertisement on Depot Street that says \u201cDepot Iron Store\u201d in white paint on a brick wall, with an index finger pointing and the letters in the word \u201cOffice\u201d descending downward like a staircase. And then there\u2019s the \u201cGold Medal Flower\u201d ad painted downtown, near Bagel Works.<\/p>\n

\u201cGhost signs,\u201d Ricard called the painted ads. \u201cWe use billboards, but they used to have painted ads on the sides of buildings. Very nostalgic. I love them.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emily Ricard makes wishes, big wishes, come true.Last spring, for example, a little boy with a rare form of cancer got his wish, a trip to Disney World. He had fun and is now feeling better.\u201cThe update is that he is doing well,\u201d said Ricard, who works…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=5]Ray Duckler[\/Author] Monitor staff","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[514,12],"tags":[94,24,505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[513],"class_list":["post-11933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-centerpiece-cm","category-town-city-government","tag-concord-nh","tag-facebook","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/43127458-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11933"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11935,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11933\/revisions\/11935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11933"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=11933"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=11933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}