Dream Foundation fulfills a dying wish for a Phenix City animal lover.
Reba Reeves, 86, is a resident of Parkwood Health Care on Stadium Drive and she is dying from heart disease.
Reba grew up in the country surrounded by animals. She says people and family tried to make a city girl out of her.
Sandra Jenkins with Parkwood Health Care says the animals have a magical affect on the residents.
“They love activities, they love people, they love the volunteers and of course they love the animals. It’s very important for them to get out and be active,” Sandra Jenkins said, with Parkwood Health Care.
The Dream Foundation fulfills more than 2500 dreams each year. Jubilee Farms in Opelika supplied the animals for Thursday’s event.
The Dream Foundation partnered with local swimwear designer, and Dos Pueblos High School graduate Danielle Rocha, to host a swimwear runway show Thursday evening benefiting the Dream Foundation.
The event known as “Summer Dream,” took place at Aperture Collection and Cabana Home in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone.
The “Summer Dream” event geared towards attracting young professionals to the charity work of making dreams come true for those battling life-threatening illnesses.
The Dream Foundation says that it has seen an increase in engagement from young audiences between the ages of 18 and 35, and about 11 percent of dream recipients are between 18 and 35 years old.
The event, emceed by NewsChannel 3’s Shirin Rajaee, showcased a mixture of 1980’s and Brazilian style inspired bikinis by Rocha Swim.
“It is exciting to be working with a talented young designer like Danielle Rocha, who has channeled her creativity and entrepreneurial spirit into giving back to the community,” said the event chair Arlene Montesano in a statement.
Fashion from other local designers, food from Carl’s Jr., and a raffle were also part of the event. A live performance by aerial dancers delighted the crowd prior to the fashion show.
All proceeds from the event will be earmarked to serve the dreams of applicants in their twenties.
Kenneth Fulcher Sr. has been through a lot of illnesses. A triple bypass, a stroke, and now a third bout with cancer.
Through it all, his love of his wife, his family, and “date nights” of pro wrestling have kept him going, and now he’ll get a chance to have another date night with his wife of 50 years.
For Fulcher, the WWE is appointment viewing television with his wife. When asked where the idea for the date night originated, Fulcher replied “I reckon she just got tired of me watching it by myself!”
With Fulcher’s lung cancer returning, Kenneth has been using a hospital bed at home, a move that upset his wife. Granddaughter Sophia Talbott explains “Nanny has got real upset, because they shared a bed for 50 years, and that was going to be the first step of losing him.” Despite the pain, he insisted on keeping his time with his wife on Monday nights. Talbott continued “Papa said he would forgo any pain or discomfort on those nights and get into bed to watch wrestling with her. So it’s their designated date nights.”
That’s when his granddaughter wrote a letter to the Dream Foundation. On Thursday, the group presented VIP tickets to Fulcher and his wife to see the WWE in Roanoke, and to meet his favorite wrestler, WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, backstage. Jere Bayne presented the gift on behalf of Genentech and the Dream Foundation, who said “It’s more of a reward to us to deliver this, to see the families and say ‘Hey, go have a good time, forget about cancer.'”
The gift may not make Kenneth’s health better, but for the Fulchers, it’s one more chance to share something more than a love of wrestling. Through tears, he explained why the nights are special, saying “I’m never away from her!” (Read more)
What would you do if you had less than a year to live and could have one wish granted? Where would you go? Who would you bring with you?
For Randy, a 53-year-old HealthPartners Hospice patient, the answer was easy. He’d never been to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore or Crazy Horse, and he would love nothing more than to take in those monuments with his loved ones at his side. The good news for Randy was that his hospice team had an idea. His nurse, Alyssa Copley, and social worker, Diane Wiersgalla, submitted an application to the Dream Foundation to get his wish granted. And they didn’t just wait, cross their fingers, and hope for the best.
Alyssa and Diane called the Dream Foundation almost every day to make sure they received the application and check in on the status. Then, one day in late September, something magical happened. “The Dream Foundation showed up at his house like he’d won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes!” Alyssa says. They had gas cards to pay for the travel, books, games, and puzzles to entertain the kids in the car and beach towels and noodles for some fun at the hotel pool. A few weeks later, the Fierro family took off for South Dakota, but the red carpet treatment didn’t stop there! Once Randy, his wife, their daughter and two grandchildren arrived in the Black Hills, the family was surprised with a luxury suite at the hotel, a private laser show at the Crazy Horse memorial and a VIP shuttle to the top of the monument—something very few guests get to do. Other stops along the way included a walk through Rushmore Cave and a haunted house.
“This trip came at exactly the right time,” Randy says. “Being that close to Crazy Horse genuinely lifted me up. There was really something spiritual about it, which my whole family felt. We are all so thankful for this experience—it was so much fun!”
“When You Wish Upon a Star” greeted an unsuspecting Jalen Miller Friday as she walked into a Gervais High School gymnasium filled with cheering students and staff.
They had all been waiting for her, and her shocked expression was evidence she had no idea what was coming.
Miller knew this would be her last day as a staff member at the high school. Last summer’s diagnosis of bile duct cancer had forced her decision to retire.
What she didn’t know was that a wish — shared by her and her husband, David, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2013 — would be granted at a school-wide assembly in her honor. (Read more)
What would you do if you had less than a year to live and could have one wish granted? Where would you go? Who would you bring with you?