PHOENIX -

Subaru of America recently launched its 10th annual Share the Love event, which will benefit Make-A-Wish America for the seventh year.

This month, through Jan. 2, Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased to Make-A-Wish or one of three other participating national charities of the purchaser's or lessee's choice, the company said in a news release.

Additionally, as a part of the Share the Love event, participating Subaru retailers can also select a fifth hometown charity from their local community where customers can direct their gift.

Several retailers have selected a local Make-A-Wish chapter as their hometown charity, according to Subaru.

Funds from the Share the Love event will help grant wishes for children like Sage, a young girl that Subaru featured in a television commercial about the annual fundraiser last year.

In the news release, Sage said her wish meant that “nobody's telling me to go get blood work, or go get a scan right now. Having a wish helps kids like me know there's something that's going to be better than what we've been going through this whole time.”

Sage wished to visit Jackson, Wyo., because she knew it to have some of the best snowboarding in the U.S.

“Together with Make-A-Wish, the Subaru Share the Love event has granted the wishes of more than 1,500 kids with critical illnesses like Sage,” Subaru of America president and chief operating officer Tom Doll said in a news release. “It has been an incredibly rewarding experience for Subaru owners, employees and retailers to bring joy to so many brave children in their communities and around the country. We are proud to work together with Make-A-Wish for a seventh year and continue making children's wishes come true.”

In its nine years, the Share the Love event has raised more than $94 million for local and national charities, including $23.4 million raised just last year, according to Subaru.

Over the past six years, Subaru and its retailers have donated more than $12.5 million to Make-A-Wish.

Last year, Make-A-Wish received $3.5 million from Subaru.

“Children facing critical illness need our help. Subaru's support, through their annual Share the Love event, has helped make life-changing wishes come true for wish children across the U.S.” said David Williams, Make-A-Wish America president and chief executive officer.

“Research shows that having a wish come true can be transformational for a child battling a critical illness. We are beyond grateful to Subaru and its loyal customers for giving hope to wish children in a time of uncertainty, joy when they could be sad, and for continuing to Share the Love,” Williams continued.