Groups that Grant Wishes to Senior Citizens

A 72-year-old grandmother, Bonnie G., Dexter, Minnesota, has deteriorating health. She would like one last great moment with her family. Bonnie wants to take her grandchildren to Disney World. She could never afford the $5,000 it would cost her. The Twilight Wish Foundation is looking for a donor or donors to raise the money so that Bonnie sees her dream is fulfilled. The Twilight Wish Foundation is one of a variety of groups that attempts to see that the wishes of senior citizens are granted. The idea for the groups came from the Make A Wish Foundation, which grants the last wishes of dying children.

One difference from these groups and the Make a Wish Foundation is these groups do not say that the wishes being granted are the last wishes of a dying person. In some cases they may be. In other cases wishes may be granted for healthy people. In many other cases, they may just be wishes that the elderly people involved could not financially afford. They may be wishes that are too complicated for the elderly to fulfill themselves. There are many types of wishes the groups fulfill. Some examples could be an elderly person meeting a famous celebrity or touring his own home town.

Josephine Mastroianni, 86, of Waterbury, Connecticut, had always wanted to learn to play the piano. Thanks to the group, Seniors Have Dreams Too, she is getting her wish. Many of her neighbors, who also live in the nursing home where she resides, recently gathered around to watch and hear her piano lessons. She played the Frank Sinatra classic, I Did it My Way for their listening enjoyment. Her lessons cost her nothing. When she was a child she had six siblings, and her family could never afford lessons.

There are a variety of groups such as Seniors Have Dreams and the Twilight Wish Foundation in the United States that grant the wishes. Others groups include the Forever Young Senior Wish Foundation, Collierville, Tennessee, Second Wind Dreams, Marietta, Georgia, and Never Too Late in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Twilight Wish Foundation is one of the largest of the groups that grant the wishes of senior citizens. It has granted about 1,300 wishes. It was founded in 2003 and has granted wishes in 35 states. Among the states with chapters are Idaho, Arizona, Illinois, Washington, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia.

"I can't imagine being older, being alert and oriented, and yet feeling that there's something I wanted to do and couldn't or that there's nothing to look forward to," Sally Smith, a recreation director at the Cheshire House, where Mastroianni lives and who founded Seniors Have Dreams, said on the website, http://news.yahoo.com. "That would be just heartbreaking."

The groups do have requirements before they will attempt to grant the wishes of the senior citizens. Those wanting the Twilight Wish Foundation to grant their wishes must be unable to grant the wishes themselves, either because of a limited income or the wish being too complicated for them to see accomplished on their own initiative. Cassy Forkin, who founded the group and is its executive director, said the person who has the wish does not have to be terminally ill, because everyone is going to die someday.

Some wishes are categorized by the Twilight Foundation into simple wishes, which may include getting new dentures or the purchase of a new appliance. Other wishes, however, could be dreams that will provide a high quality of life--to fly in fighter airplane or meet a favorite sports star.

Seniors Have Dreams Too has focused more on the harder to meet dreams, such as delivering New York Yankees gear to a dying fan, an art show and reception for a woman who wished to display her paintings, and a tuneup for a blind guitar player's instrument.

Wishes that the Twilight Wish Foundation hopes to be able when funds are raised include providing a lift chair to Vera Jean, 94, Washington, PA ($1,500 needed), who has two broken hips; Syble J., 71, Trent, North Carolina, who served herself as a rescue worker for the country rescue squad for ten years and now needs a stove and hot water heater ($1,500 needed); and Peggy, 68, Homestead, PA, who has only broken futon and a few pots and pans in her apartment and needs almost all household items, including lamps, a bed, table, and towels. Peggy often volunteers at senior center herself.

Those wishing to help can give money to the Twilight Wish Foundation through the United Way and other programs. The other groups accept donations too.

Citations: Individual Wish Listings, no author listed, Twilightwishfoundation.org

For elderly, a different kind of `make a wish' by Stephanie Reitz, Associated Press Writer, News.yahoo.com