Smiles from 27 children and hundreds of employee volunteers filled the air on Oct. 19 for this year's WishFlight, "The Enchanted Journey." Festivities took place for the Wish Kids and their families at their departure and connecting airports, plus welcome celebrations in Orlando.
The Something mAAgic Foundation is sponsoring a villa at Give Kids the World Village. There was an "indoor" groundbreaking ceremony for the villa on Oct. 20. That night all family members staying at the village joined in a party to celebrate the 12th annual WishFlight.
The Something mAAgic Foundation cannot fulfill the dreams of these children without the help of volunteers and employees' generous fundraising support throughout the year. A heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who made this year's WishFlight an enchanting success.
Jennifer Proctor, WishFlight Executive Director:
Something mAAgic Foundation is a charity made up of American Airlines, American Eagle and American Airlines Credit Union employees and we raise the funds to sponsor WishFlight. And WishFlight supports Make-A-Wish children from all over the world who want to come to Orlando for a week-long vacation. And they stay at Give Kids The World Village which is another charity, so we support both the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Give Kids The World Village.
Dusty Wilson, Something mAAgic Volunteer:
We had the best experience ever. We arrived at the airport and we knew our little girl, her name was Olivia, she was four years old and she was coming in from Milwaukee. Well, the airport when we arrived, we got our t-shirts and we started decorating the gate. It was awesome. I mean, just overwhelming, you know, words can't describe.
Zac Horn, Wish Kid:
There were a bunch of American Airlines workers that greeted me and then got me two cakes and a gift bag.
Deb Horn, WishFlight Parent:
Zac was diagnosed with ALL, acute lymphocytic -- or lymphoblastic -- leukemia in April of 2006. And he's gone through the most intense part of the treatment now and he's in what they call the maintenance phase right now.
Wilson:
We did three arrivals when we got to Orlando and, again, emotions, words, you know, cannot describe. I mean, it was absolutely just, you know, I want to say heartbreaking but it's not heartbreaking. Its so heart-fulfilling.
Proctor:
They're here for a whole week. They get to celebrate at any Orlando attractions that they want to go to all week long - Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld. So they come and they party with us today and then they have the whole week to do what they want.
Zac Horn:
I went to Epcot. I rode Soarin', Test Track and Mission Space.
Pamela Landwirth, Give Kids The World President:
The Village is all about giving these families "yesses." They're so used to saying no - no, we can't afford birthday parties, we can't afford this, we can't afford that. So imagine coming to a place where everything is yes. You want a banana split for breakfast? Yes. Do you want to ride the carousel again? Yes. It's about inspiring hope in these children so they'll go back and hopefully renew their battle against their illness, or in those tragic times when they lose the battle, to have some wonderful memories to draw that strength and hope and courage from.
Proctor:
When I was here on WishFlight a couple of years ago, I was so amazed at the joy on the children's faces, but also the parents and their siblings because they've been through so much. And it's just a way for them to get away from it all, get away from the hospitals and the doctors, just enjoy, relax, have a good time, do whatever they want to do. And as a parent, it really touched me that the parents get a chance to get a break.
Deb Horn:
It's a bigger thing for us as parents than it is for Zac, I think, just knowing that we're not the only ones going through this.
Alan Horn, WishFlight Parent:
Almost an instant connection with people. You've got so much in common. You've gone through such deep times and you just relate right away.
Proctor:
The Something mAAgic Foundation decided to sponsor a villa which is a home for families. It will house two families every week so we did a groundbreaking ceremony this morning to celebrate the beginning of the construction on the villa that we're going to build. We're going to raise $75,000 over three years to build the villa.
Joseph Peralta, JFK Cargo:
The presentation that I made was the $6,000 check from the Cargo employees at JFK. Many of them give me a dollar a week dues, plus we have raffles throughout the year, we have hotdog sales, and over the last nine months we raised the $6,000.
Landwirth:
70% of the year now we're forced to put families off property because the Village is filled. We have eight families off property tonight. So with this villa, 60 more families each and every year will be able to stay right here at the Village where the experiences, you can't match it.
Proctor:
Tonight we'll have a big party not only with the Wish children but with every family staying at the Village this weekend, probably a hundred families, and we have food, we have carnival games, we'll have a birthday party, cake, dancing. It's a fun party.
Landwirth:
We have been so blessed to partner with American Airlines now for 12 years, and tonight was all about a celebration of that wonderful partnership. And each of those 12 years, they've brought families over through the Make-A-Wish organization, from various cities, and this year I think we have 27 families represented and two international families. So it's all about coming and celebrating that incredible partnership between Make-A-Wish, Give Kids The World and American Airlines. And so we had about 150 American Airlines employees out here volunteering putting on this incredible event.
Proctor:
We have incredible volunteers. I can't tell you how proud I am of all the work they've put into this event. It's amazing. And people all over American Airlines that send off kids, that raise money, that put in their own money to do send-off celebrations and get involved in cheering and celebrating - it's incredible. We have hundreds of volunteers. It's one of the most amazing things I've seen at American Airlines.
Peralta:
It's very rewarding to help out, especially children in need. When you see a child suffering, how can one's heart not bleed for them and go out to them? When you see a sick child with a smile on its face, it can bring tears to one's eye.
Landwirth:
There are so many wonderful charities to become involved with. I mean, there are thousands and thousands. Most of them you give your money and you just hope you're making a difference. Here it's that instant gratification. You're here, you see the smile and you know what that is, you know the kind of happiness that inspires hope. And I think that's why it's so great to see all the American Airlines employees out here and volunteering their time. It makes them feel really good.
Alan Horn:
When your child has a life-threatening disease, you really got two choices and, and the two choices are: am I going to live every day waiting for it to knock on my door or am I going to live in the moment or live for the dream that he'll be better someday? And you try to keep your mind on living the dream. And when you come through the airlines and everybody is cheering and they're chanting, "Zac, Zac, Zac," you can live the dream.