Last month, Solano Town Center helped a little girl’s wishes come true. She wanted to be a superhero for the day, and the Californian center was part of making that happen.

Kylinn Sciorino suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare an incurable neuromuscular disease. The nine-year-old is a fan of Marvel’s The Avengers. Iron Man is her favorite, so Iron Man is who she became for the day. Just as he dons his battle suits to tackle threats to the world despite his own physical limitations, Kylinn donned her own suit to combat evildoers.

She did so with the assistance of The Wish Connection, a non-profit organization created by AT&T employees. They worked with Solano Town Center and Solano Community College to plan a day of heroics that Kylinn could safely enjoy. She started with a battle against bad guys at the college who were out to steal chemicals for undoubtedly nefarious plans. Despite a recent fall that left her with broken arms and a compressed spinal column, she got out there in her wheel chair and took those baddies down.

Victorious, she returned to celebrate at Solano Town Center. Mayor Harry Price was there to thank her for her service and congratulate her with a key to the city of Fairfield. Shopping center representatives presented her with a special gift basket filled with Iron Man collectibles and all sorts of treats from Hot Topic, Game Stop, The Disney Store, and See’s Candies.

“It is being a part of making wishes come true that brings a community together. We are grateful that Solano Town Center partnered with The Wish Connection and was able to give Kylinn an opportunity to beat the “bad guys,” said Heath McCue, the center’s Director of Marketing.

Clouds gathered at Bankstown Central last month, but they didn’t rain on anyone’s parade. Instead, they made wishes come true.

The shopping center held a special exhibition called Cloud Wishes. Shoppers could drop their wishes off in the Cloud Wishes post box with a small donation to see them brought to life. A team of professional artists interpreted them into hanging displays among the clouds up on the center’s ceiling.

It was a delightful program, made all the more so by the purpose it served: to raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Starlight supports sick kids and their families regardless of illness, injury or age, providing Starlight Express Rooms to give kids in hospital a chance to have some fun and relax.

The Cloud Wishes program brought in over $8,000 for Starlight, between the wish donations and a series of by-donation children’s workshops. At the workshops, kids could design and decorate their own clouds, and learn more about clouds and the role they play in our environment.

Bankstown Central spokesperson Jelena Bosnic said more than 1,200 local kids made gold coin donations to attend the Cloud Wishes workshops during the recent NSW school holidays along with public donations to the Cloud Wishes ‘Wishing Well’ at the Centre’s information booth.

“We are delighted to see our locals truly embrace the spirit of the Cloud Wishes project. Their generosity will make a real difference to the lives of sick kids and their families,” said Bosnic.

The center also donated free kiosk space so Starlight representatives could meet with shoppers and share stories and information about their programs.

Starlight’s NSW Partnership Manager, Holly Roberts, said the project had been an enormous success, and thanked the Bankstown community for digging deep to help sick kids in need.

“Every minute of every day a child is admitted to hospital across Australia. Just $39 helps one child and their family access Captain Starlight and the Starlight Express Room, giving them a medical-free respite within the hospital. We’re so thankful to Bankstown Central and the local community for helping Starlight to continue to support sick kids and their families when they need a break the most.”

Good-hearted staff at intu Uxbridge made life a little nicer for those who are going through a particularly difficult time. The center recently sent in a team of intu staff to revamp the family room at Michael Sobell Hospice, so the families of those in hospice and palliative care can relax in a fresh, welcoming room.

The hospice is intu Uxbridge’s charity of the year, and the center hopes to raise £25,000 to fund a nurse for a year. But this redesign also gave center staff a chance to form close, personal ties to Michael Sobell Hospice as they spent their time repainting the room in a fashionable new color provided by Wickes, and replacing furnishings and decor with new items provided by Next.

Lisa Trodd, Assistant Marketing Manager at intu Uxbridge, said “It was fantastic to be able to support…Michael Sobell Hospice by giving their family room revamp this week, with thanks to our wonderful staff. We hope that the new rooms will be warmly welcomed by families of those under their care.”

The new family room was officially opened by celebrity interior designer Linda Barker last week, and hospice staff were very pleased.

Ursula Reeve, Head of Palliative Care at Michael Sobell Hospice, said, “We are delighted with the makeover. The new look family room is bright, comfortable and welcoming and will be a lovely area for our patients, their families and our staff to spend time in. Many thanks to everyone involved at intu Uxbridge for making this project happen.”

Telford Shopping Centre staff who have attended deafness and visual awareness training.

Sometimes, making the shopping experience better for your shoppers doesn’t require expensive, sweeping changes or renovations. Sometimes it’s just a matter of looking at who you could be serving a little better.

Telford Shopping Centre has been working with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) to make the centre a friendlier place for shoppers living with disabilities. The RNIB focuses on support for people with sight loss, but in its work with Telford Centre it also looks at the needs of those with hearing loss.

“We were delighted to work with Telford Shopping Centre to implement this vital training programme,” said Neil Heslop for the RNIB. “With 2 million blind and partially sighted people in the UK, and around 50,000 profoundly deaf people, it is important that those who work in commercial environments, such as shopping centres, have a clear understanding of how they can communicate effectively with everyone.”

Twelve operations staff members have already undergone training led by RNIB’s experts to make sure they can confidently communicate with shoppers living with those disabilities. The training sessions include practical simulations based on real-life experiences people have had while shopping, as well as advice and guidance to help boost the team’s understanding and confidence in accommodating everyone’s needs.

Twelve more staff are soon to be trained, and the center hopes to have all front-line staff prepared within the next few months.

“With approximately 11 million people in the UK living with a disability there is real and pressing need for shopping centres to ensure teams are well-equipped with the skills and knowledge to promote accessibility,” said center director Chris Jones.

“Telford Shopping Centre is at the heart of the community – it is a place where everyone should feel welcome and it is very important to us that all our visitors have an enjoyable, optimum experience. An ongoing investment in training is an integral part of our commitment to providing a high standard of customer service.”

Pictured: Bob Blumenfield and Molly Unger

When the Special Olympics World Games athletes and delegates arrived in Los Angeles last month, Westfield continued a long tradition of supporting the Special Olympics by organizing a warm welcome at six of its Californian centers.

Westfield Topanga was one of the centers welcoming delegates, hosting over 500 individuals involved with Special Olympics programs in Serbia, Timor-Leste, Azerbaijan, Malta, Cambodia, Venezuela and Hellas. They were joined by many local representatives as they were treated to lunch by the center. After lunch, a Law Enforcement Torch Run ceremony made its way through the center.

At the event, Senior Manager at Westfield Molly Unger said, “Westfield takes great pride in its 18 year sponsorship history and longstanding relationship with Special Olympics Southern California, helping raise significant funds that enable the organization to enrich the lives of over 17,000 Southern California athletes, their families and communities, through the power of sports, education, and athlete health.”

Westfield Topanga retailers held in-store events to welcome and celebrate the athletes, and community event partners went above and beyond to make it a fun day. Valley Village, a nonprofit that works with adults with developmental challenges, brought in 90 volunteers to help with the event.

Other Westfield events for the Special Olympics included a lunch and dinner with delegates from Gibraltar and Monaco at Westfield Century City, a city event for 100 delegates from Trinidad & Tobago and Kyrgyz Republic at Westfield Santa Anita, a fun shopping day for 287 Costa Rican delegates at Westfield UTC, and lunch and an in-center scavenger hunt for 110 delegates from Argentina and Puerto Rico at Westfield Plaza Bonita.

Interested in the ways other malls welcomed delegates and athletes? We looked at Macerich’s events at Tactics Online.