Making dreams come true

By CHELSEA JENSEN

Stephens Media

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hawaii is establishing a Big Island force of “wish granters” to make the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses come true.

“It’s really important that our wish granters are in our communities because we are not just an Oahu-based organization that supports the state,” said Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hawaii Executive Director Siana Hunt, who was born and raised on Molokai. “This is an opportunity for the community to get involved and be touched by the wish.”

For Kailua-Kona resident Denise Bird, becoming a wish granter nearly a decade ago has been more than rewarding. Over the years, Bird said she has helped grant “oodles” of kids’ wishes.

“It’s an opportunity to give joy to someone that could really use it,” she said. “It’s all about the kids because they’ve already been through so much and still have a long road ahead of them.”

A handful of West Hawaii residents participated in a training session Saturday to become Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hawaii volunteers in Kailua-Kona. A similar training held Friday attracted about 15 people in Hilo, the nonprofit’s Volunteer Coordinator, Tara Humphreys, said.

The training, which Humphreys said hadn’t been held on the island before, is being conducted to expand the organization’s local force of wish granters, speakers and points of contact on the neighbor islands.

Currently, there are nine active Hawaii Island children with pending wishes and only four wish granters.

“We need more of an army of wish granters on every Neighbor Island,” Humphreys said. “Often, kids from the Big Island only get their wish when they come to Oahu when they should be taken care of by the people within their community. It makes them feel more special to be at home and make their wish.”

Kailua-Kona resident Toni Romp-Friesen, who is currently a nurse and Kona Hospice volunteer, said more people need to get involved to make the wishes of local and mainland keiki come true.

“You can’t cure the illness but you can do this,” she said. “It’s the whole idea of being able to make a wish come true” that made me do the training.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hawaii was established in September 1982 and since has granted more than 700 Hawaii kids’ wishes, including 40 last year and 65 in 2010, Humphreys said.

Annually, the 13th chapter of the national Make-A-Wish Foundation assists in granting the wishes of 700 children who want to visit Hawaii.

The national Make-A-Wish Foundation was established in 1980 after Phoenix police officers granted the wish of a 7-year-old, who had been diagnosed with leukemia, to be a police officer for a day, said Humphreys. Children with life-threatening illnesses between ages 21/2 and 18 are eligible with referral from a doctor.

Some of the kids’ wishes range from going to Disney World, being a princess for a day and meeting Justin Bieber to getting a home auto body shop and laptop, said Hunt and Humphreys. On average, granting a child’s wish costs around $8,500 and is funded entirely by the organization through donations, grants and sponsorships, said Humphreys.

“The power of the wish is something that gets you through your hospital visits and treatments,” Hunt said. “That power is something the family remembers, and it gives them a renewed sense of hope.”

For more information, to get involved or to donate visit makeawishhawaii.org, email Humphreys at tara@makeawishhawaii.org or call 537-3118.

Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.