Kristin Harty Barkley
Cumberland Times-News
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CUMBERLAND — Most of the wishes Jenna Chesky has granted over the past five years have involved Mickey Mouse.
“Almost all of mine have been Disney wishes, to go to Orlando,” said Chesky, a volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic.
Chesky’s job: Meet with children who have a life-threatening illness and help them figure out their heart’s desire.
“We play a little game called ‘I would wish to have ... I would wish to do ... I would wish to go ... I would wish to experience,’” said Chesky, a teacher at Washington Middle School. “A lot of the kids don’t really understand the possibilities. You can wish for just about anything, within reason.”
For the growing organization, which opened its Mid-Atlantic branch in 1983, there is no shortage of wishful children who are fighting to stay alive. But there is a shortage of volunteers, particularly in Western Maryland, where Chesky is the only one.
“If I had my druthers I would like to have four to six volunteers for Allegany and Garrett counties,” said Carole Crisci, volunteer donor coordinator at the Mid-Atlantic chapter’s new headquarters in Hagerstown. Across the Mid-Atlantic, about 400 volunteers have granted the wishes of more than 6,500 children over the past 27 years.
“As the number of wish children in our area increases, so does the need for volunteers,” Crisci said.
A day-long training session for new volunteers is scheduled for Oct. 2 in Hagerstown. Volunteers must be at least 21 years old and pass a background check.
“You do have to be emotionally stable,” said Chesky, adding that it can be difficult to see children suffering from serious illnesses.
In high school, one of Chesky’s friends had cystic fibrosis, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation sent her and her family to Hawaii to swim with the dolphins.
“It was such a great memory for her family to have, since she’s no longer with us,” said Chesky, whose high school friend died about four years ago. “I knew when I got old enough I would want to volunteer for them in whatever way I could.”
The time commitment for volunteers can be as little as a few hours a month and includes face-to-face interviews with families, phone calls and e-mails, Crisci said.
Last year, Chesky helped Chris Sawyers’ wish come true. The Washington Middle School student had been helping raise money for a 3-year-old boy with cancer in May 2008 when he found out he was sick with Hodgkins lymphoma.
Sawyers was in remission in February when he traveled to Disney World with his sister, his mom and her fiance. Chesky hosted a welcome home party for Sawyers and his family at school so they could celebrate his trip — and his health.
“I’ve never had to do a wish with a child in the hospital,” Chesky said. “Actually, none of my children that I’ve worked with have passed away. All of them are in remission.”
Developing a wish and watching it come to fruition gives an ill child “something positive to think about instead of medical treatments and hospital visits,” Make-A-Wish says on its web site. “Often, it can become part of the treatment process.”
“It’s not just getting a wish and having it be done,” said Chesky, who helped one child get a computer and another child meet “Because of Winn Dixie” actress AnnaSophia Robb. “It’s the experience of going through it, of talking about the wish, waiting, getting small gifts along the way.”
Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com.
