Thanks to the Georgia Make-A-Wish Foundation, Weston Cruselle and his family will be heading for a weeklong vacation in Hawaii in a few weeks. It's a much-needed respite for the 17-year-old Weston, who is battling leukemia.
Weston was promised the trip when he was first diagnosed with the blood cancer. But the Powder Springs teen had to wait nearly two years, because Make-A-Wish has had a hard time keeping up with a drop in donations, a jump in costs such as airfare and a spike in demand.
The group has a backlog of some 600 children waiting for wishes to be granted.
Many don't have time to wait.
"Since January 2012, we've lost nine kids on our backlog list," Make-A-Wish CEO John Brennan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "They just don't have time. That's why wishes can't wait."
Tuesday, the foundation will launch a campaign to raise $2.5 million to clear up the wish backlog. Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan will help the effort at a private event hosted by former Falcon Coy Wire at the St. Regis Atlanta hotel. Money raised in the campaign will be used strictly for cutting the wish backlog, Brennan stressed.
He said the foundation had its best fundraising year ever in 2008. Then, a rough economy caused donations to sink from 2009 through 2011. At the same time, more families — many of them unemployed or underemployed — requested more wishes for their sick children.
That "perfect storm" of events caused the backlog, Brennan said. He said donations have picked up recently — so much so, the foundation is able to pay for current wishes. However, the aim is to clear up the wishes for the 600 children with terminal illnesses who have been waiting at least two years. "We can handle incoming wishes, but the backlog we can't handle," Brennan said.
Without the help of Make-A-Wish, Weston's trip probably wouldn't be in the cards, said his mother Jennifer Cruselle.
"It's a trip of a lifetime that we couldn't make, not with the financial burdens of having a sick child," she said in a phone interview. "We couldn't dream of a vacation like this on our own."
Weston Crusselle is looking forward to his week in Hawaii with his mother, father and girlfriend. He plans to go deep-sea fishing, surfing and jet skiing, among other things.
"I wont even think about feeling bad," Weston told the AJC.
He said donations to Make-a-Wish will make a world of difference to children like him. "If you want to help someone in need, help someone who is sick, through no fault of their own, who can't do anything about it."
To donate to Make-A-Wish, visit www.ga-al.wish.org. The foundation can also accept airline miles. Travel costs account for a major expense in nearly 70 percent of wishes, Brennan noted.
