KEARNEY, Neb.—As vice president of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Nebraska, Hannah Stone trains people to be like Santa Claus. Stone, along with the many volunteers she has coached, has given children with life-threatening medical conditions their deepest wishes.
One area child met President Bush. Another met race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Another appeared on the television show “Deal or No Deal.” Still others will meet actor Adam Sandler, basketball star LeBron James and “Hannah Montana” sensation Miley Cyrus.
“The wishes we grant are limited to the kids’ imaginations. For a child who wants to be a princess, a community might hold a parade in her honor.
“Children just wish doctors would stop poking and prodding them. Doctors can’t promise that. But we can help make their deepest wishes come true. … I have the best job in the world,” Stone said.
The wish process begins with a medical professional referring a child to the Make-A-Wish program. Two trained volunteers, known as wish granters, then work with a family to determine a child’s wish and, ultimately, the wish is approved by medical staff.
Wish children must be 2 to 18 years old, and the wish must be completed by a child’s 19th birthday.
Stone said that when children learn their wishes will be granted, their attitudes almost instantly change. “They have hope, and that hope is so important,” Stone said.
She opened the Kearney satellite Make-A-Wish office two years ago. The office serves 55 counties from York to western Nebraska and has granted about 40 wishes.
“Disney World is the most popular wish,” Stone said.
When children arrive in Florida for their Disney trips, they stay at Give Kids the World Resort in Kissimee. “Families love it there. There’s an ice cream parlor, rides, minigolf and much more. Some kids don’t even want to leave the resort,” Stone said with a laugh.
“It’s a time for families to just be families for a week—to not worry about the illnesses their children have. It’s a time for them to make beautiful memories.”
Stone makes all the travel arrangements for the children served by her office. Trips are typically a week long and tailored to each child’s wish. “My arrangements include finding volunteers to decorate a family’s hotel room and to greet them when they arrive at their destination,” Stone said.
Wishes involving celebrities are handled through the national Make-A-Wish office in Phoenix. “Those celebrity wishes are the hardest to coordinate because celebrities are so busy,” Stone said.
Stone said Make-A-Wish offices around the country help each other. “A child once flew into the Kearney airport to meet a National Geographic photographer who happened to be in Nebraska. Though it wasn’t a local child, our office helped with that wish,” she explained.
The majority of Stone’s time is spent traveling in Nebraska to train volunteers on how to enhance children’s wishes. She has trained more than 100 volunteers throughout the state.
Out of all her successes, the attachments she forms with children and their families are most significant for Stone.
“It’s difficult to see a child go into remission and then get cancer again,” she said. “But I have seen magic in my job. The power of a wish transforms the child and the family. Their smiles of joy keep me going.”
