Making Dreams Come True

They say a dream is a wish your heart makes…and Make-A-Wish has been making dreams come true throughout the United States for more than 40 years, granting the wishes of more than 350,000 children. The organization’s mission is to create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. A wish experience can be a game-changer for a child, helping them build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight a critical illness and bringing hope, joy and a sense of normalcy back into a family’s life. Children who are eligible for a wish do not necessarily have a terminal diagnosis.

Make-A-Wish explains how wishes impact everyone involved—wish kids, volunteers, donors, sponsors, medical professionals and communities. For wish kids, just the act of making their wish come true can give them the courage to comply with their medical treatments.

Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island, one of 58 Make-A-Wish chapters across the country, recently granted wishes to two youngsters who are big fans of the fire service.

Wish kids

Makinley Arsenault, 5, of Peabody, MA, spent the first 11½ months of her life in the hospital, has chronic respiratory failure and spends a lot of time with nurses and trained adults.

She wishes she had a playhouse where she can have fun and be a kid, and where the grownups in her life can also play with her.

Five-year-old Sebastian Janitor lives in Slovakia, but he and his family traveled to Boston in early 2021, so he could receive treatment for a life-threatening pulmonary condition.

He wishes he could be a firefighter.

A firehouse playhouse

Makinley’s wish was granted with a firehouse playhouse that was custom-built for her by Lilliput Play Homes in Pennsylvania.

The theme of the playhouse was inspired by her love of firefighting. Her father, Joseph Javery, Jr., is a Peabody, MA, firefighter and one of her favorite things is visiting him at the station, which she began doing at just a year old, despite having had a tracheostomy and being on oxygen. 

“No matter how many times Makinley goes [to the Peabody station], she’s always as excited as if it were her first time,” says her mom, Adriana Gallant. “There isn’t a firetruck in Peabody that she hasn’t been on,” adds her father, Joseph.

Lilliput Director of Sales Allie Kenawell says, “Our Lilliput Play Homes team is so grateful to be able to contribute to the joy that children like Makinley experience through Make-A-Wish.”

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island CEO Sean Holleran adds, “Wishes are vital for children facing critical illnesses. They foster hope, resiliency, and joy for children and their families. We’re honored to grant Makinley’s wish, providing her with a creative space where she can follow her imagination and create memories for years to come.”

Firefighter Sebastian

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island worked with the Boston Fire Department (BFD) to grant Sebastian’s wish before he and his family returned home to Slovakia.

The wish was granted when they visited the Boston Fire Station on Dudley St. in Roxbury, MA. 

Sebastian got to explore the trucks and ladders, use the fire hose, and do a mock search and rescue.

The BFD members in attendance spent time with Sebastian and his family and gave him and his sister BFD gifts to take home, including play trucks, t-shirts, and patches. He was also presented with a Boston Fire Department Badge by Local 718 President Sam Dillon.

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island Wish Coordinator Taylor Russell, who worked with BFD to plan Sebastian’s wish, said of the experience, “The BFD made sure Sebastian and his family know that they’re never alone in their fight for Sebastian’s health. Sebastian loves hugs and went around and hugged every person in the department multiple times. It was so sweet, and we are grateful for the support of the Boston Fire Department.”  

Sebastian’s mom, Miroslava, said that this is an experience that her family will remember forever.

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island relies on the generosity of the community to continue its wish-granting work. Its vision is to reach every medically eligible child in Massachusetts and Rhode Island with the power of a wish. The chapter has granted more than 9,000 wishes and will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2023. Learn more at www.massri.wish.org. To find your local Make-A-Wish chapter, visit wish.org, where you can also read more about the lasting impact of a wish through the results of a recent Wish Impact Study.