The wish was granted to Bryson Fisher, a 7-year-old Moraine boy whose Special Wish is to visit Walt Disney World. Making that dream a reality is River Valley Credit Union in West Carrollton, a supporter of ASW for more than 30 years.
Bryson’s trip will include a stay at Give Kids the World Village, an exclusive resort for wish families, and visits to Central Florida attractions such as Universal Studios and SeaWorld.
ASW Executive Director David Seyer said the nonprofit got its start in 1983 via Dayton police officer David Lantz after he saw an article about a girl in Columbus who was battling cancer and had a wish granted from the Special Wish office there.
“He was moved by the story, so he called the founder of A Special Wish, whose name was Ramona Fickle, and said, ‘I want to help you. How can I donate money to your cause? I’m so moved by the story,’” Seyer said. “She said, ‘If you want to really help, you can start a Dayton chapter.’”
That’s exactly what Lantz did in late 1983, granting A Special Wish of Southwest Ohio’s first wish in 1984 to 5-year-old Bryan Collins, who was battling leukemia and wished to visit Walt Disney World. Helping grant that first wish was Centerville’s Bill’s Donut Shop, owned at the time by Faye and Bill Elam.
“We know that some kids we will celebrate successes with, and we also know that, unfortunately, some kids will not survive their illness,” Seyer said. “But for us, we were there at a moment in time, and we gave them the opportunity to have a wish, an opportunity to forget about being sick, an opportunity to be away from the hospitals or the doctors and to do whatever they want, but most importantly, is to build memories that will last a lifetime for these families.”
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
ASW spokesman Tyler Gregory said since the foundation started 40 years ago, it has expanded from serving six counties to 20. That includes Adams, Auglaize, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Pike, Preble, Scioto, Shelby and Warren counties.
The foundation relies on direct donations and fundraisers, with about 120 volunteers annually.
ASW grants about 50 wishes per year, each averaging about $6,000 to $7,000, for youths as young as infants to as old as 20 years old, Gregory said. It covers all expenses for the wish, including travel, lodging, meals and souvenirs. All funding to cover the cost of each child’s Special Wish comes from the generosity of the community, he said.
About 70% of wishes are trips to Walt Disney World, he said.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
The Francis family of Sidney saw their then-11-year-old son, Brock, granted a Special Wish to Walt Disney World in May 2022. His mother, Karen Francis, said the experience was “almost indescribable.”
“It was very difficult to go anywhere with Brock,” Francis said. “He has a rare gene mutation that caused him to have epilepsy, autism, development delays, cortical vision impairment, so ... multiple disabilities, and with all those disabilities he has a feeding tube and is on a very strict diet to control seizures. I have to pack his food everywhere we go.”
That means leaving the house, let alone going on a family vacation with Brock and his younger brother and sister, is “almost impossible,” she said.
“For all of us to be in one place at the same time and being accommodated like we’ve never been accommodated before, to make the trip not just possible, but enjoyable, honestly just meant the world to me,” Francis said. “It’s still my favorite experience ever with my kids.”
Granting wishes for four decades has been “pretty remarkable, and we’ve done it all from the generosity of this community,” Seyer said. “So to celebrate our 1,900th wish ... it’s just another cherry on top of that great sundae that we’ve been building,” he said.
Seyer said he’d been with the organization for about a month in 2011 when a child’s mother conveyed its importance.
“She told me ‘Special Wish is sunshine in the middle of a tornado,’ ” he said. “That has stuck with me for these 13 years, because we don’t know what’s going to happen on the other side, but we do know for one moment in time, this family is a family again, these kids are kids again, and the parents have told us time and time again the highlight of their trip was hearing their kids laugh or seeing the smile that came with them because they haven’t seen them in a while.”
To refer a child or find out more about ASW, call 937-223-WISH (9474) or visit www.aspecialwishswo.org.
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