Warbird Information Exchange

Hey guys,

I don't know if your familiar with the Make a Wish foundation that helps grant wishes and make dreams come true for kids with life threatening illnesses.

My girl friend works for this foundation and brought to my attention this one. Apparently a kid who lives in Colorado is a WW2 buff, loves Warbirds and tanks. They are trying to arrange something for his wish to ride in a warbird. It would be cool if anyone in that area could possibly arrange a ride or a tour of the restoration facility down that way.
If you think you can help or have any leads to someone that can please let me know, or better yet contact this lady who is the wish coordinator.
Lets rally the troops guys and see if we can make something happen for this kid who has gone through so much!!

here is the email from Make a Wish:

Good morning – I am working on a wish for a young man who loves WWII history. He is particularly interested in planes and tanks. He would love the opportunity to fly in an old plane.

Has anyone granted a wish like this?

I appreciate any ideas.

Thanks


Lu Ann Griffin, Wish Coordinator

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado

7951 E. Maplewood Avenue, Suite 126

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

303-750-9474 Phone

800-366-9474 In-state Only

303-755-3108 Fax

lgriffin@colorado.wish.org

How old is he? I would think we could work out something here in Tulsa... a little bit of a drive, but doable...

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Three places in Colorado come to mind immediately: Westpac Restorations - http://www.westpacrestorations.com/, Wings Over the Rockies Museum - http://www.wingsmuseum.org/, and the Spirit of Flight Center - http://www.spiritofflight.com/. If Bill's Spitfire wasn't in the shop, I'm sure he'd be the first to step up and offer the kid a ride. EAA has worked with Make a Wish for many years. I'll send an email to Ms. Griffin and let her know.

Zack

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Curator - EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, WI
"Let No Story Go Untold!"
http://www.timelessvoices.org

Jerry Flesher down in the Springs (Meadowlake airport) would do something for him in a minute I bet....if his T-6 is together...let me see what I can swing when I get home tonight.

Mark

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Mark Morris

I called a friend with a warbird at Centennial and he is willing to do the flight, I gave him the phone number of Make a Wish.
I called the foundation number but only got an ansering machine for Lu Ann. I left her a message, and spoke to Loren her co worker.
Loren didn't know anything about this request for a flight and seemed hesitant, but I gave her the phone contact. The foundation is at Greenwood Village and the boy lives in Aurora so Centennial would be convenient.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

A happy ending for sure for this sick child. God bless him and everyone involved in making his wish come true. I think we would all love to hear how his flight goes.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Thanks for the help guys! I'm really anxious to hear how this goes as well, unfortunately I don't have much more info other than that email that was passed onto me.

Good on ya, Bill! Hope all goes well with his flight

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Bob

When I read the original post, Bill's the first guy I thought of....and he managed to come through in spite of the obvious handicap of a damaged Warbird...

Lifting one to ya, Bill!

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

Thanks guys, but I can't take any credit for just making a few phone calls.
Frankly, I am not sure if this will ever be done.
I was not able to get LuAnn who wrote the email on the phone, and when I talked to another lady, Loren she didn't know anything about the request on our site and frankly she didn't seem very enthusiastic about the flight.
I tried to call her again today, and once again neither person was there.

Some years ago, there was a group of Make A Wish kids visiting here. I phoned and offered flights, not Spitfire, but other airplanes. The lady I spoke to back then was not interested, not even very friendly, not even saying thanks. Her whole tone was suspicious and nothing came of it.

Its possible they are not comfortable with private aviation, at least non corporate planes. I think the kids would have been, like others that I have taken for flights.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Way to go Bill! Thanks for stepping up to the plate. I wonder if their antipathy is solely a liability function. Bill, you may have hit the nail on the head when you said private aviation. I wonder if the "Make a Wish" foundation is worried about potential lawsuits in the event of a crash? Anyone know if this is a concern?

Well, they didn't mention that as such. They did say that they get permission both from the child's doctor and his parents, so that should cover it.

I know that if and when I am flying a passenger I use extra care,and if was flying someone else's plane I do the same. If they entrust you with something as precious as their child the responsibility is even higher.

I believe, not sure, these children may be very ill and they may have to make the most of the present time. If we can grant some wish that allows them to enjoy something out of the ordinary and delight them even for an hour, then it ought to be. I'd put this above even taking a vet for a flight.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

On behalf of everyone at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado, we'd like to thank everyone who has posted here and/or contacted our office with offers of support for our wishes.

We apologize if any communications from staff in our office were interpreted as “hesitant” or implied any of our staff members were less than knowledgeable about the wish. Maintaining our wish families’ privacy is of the utmost importance to us, and because of that, our policies require that we not discuss any aspects of a wish with outside parties unless it is needed for the wish, and only after the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have consented. For this reason, staff members are very careful when choosing their language when discussing wishes or wish children – even if the conversation is with an individual who has contacted us with an offer of support. This policy ensures our legal and ethical obligation to protect the wish children and family members we work with. We hope you can also recognize the necessity to respect their privacy and we appreciate your understanding.

The e-mail message that initiated this discussion was intended only for internal brainstorming with other Make-A-Wish Foundation chapters as we gathered information about what options we may have for the granting of this wish. Our goal was to gain some knowledge from the experiences of other Make-A-Wish chapters as we explored options that we may be able to pursue in granting a wish, but we are not yet ready to begin developing any specific wish-granting plans.

We have been given permission to share with you that, at this point, the wish child has not fully formulated his vision of his wish. As I’m sure you can understand, one of the most important elements of wish granting is ensuring that the wish child has been given the time he or she needs to fully decide upon their wish. Once the child has formulated his or her vision, then we are thrilled to be able to step in to find creative ways to bring that child’s vision to life.

As we said before, we are very grateful for the offers of support we have received from those on this message board. We have also received information about numerous other potential resources around the country. Once the wish child has made a decision regarding the direction he would like his wish to take, we will begin planning in earnest. At that point, if we are able to utilize any of the resources that have been offered by members of this site, we will absolutely reach out to you. Please know, however, that whether or not we are able to accept the offers we have received, we truly appreciate all of the support that has been offered.

Best wishes!

On behalf of everyone at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado, we'd like to thank everyone who has posted here and/or contacted our office with offers of support for our wishes.

We apologize if any communications from staff in our office were interpreted as “hesitant” or implied any of our staff members were less than knowledgeable about the wish. Maintaining our wish families’ privacy is of the utmost importance to us, and because of that, our policies require that we not discuss any aspects of a wish with outside parties unless it is needed for the wish, and only after the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have consented. For this reason, staff members are very careful when choosing their language when discussing wishes or wish children – even if the conversation is with an individual who has contacted us with an offer of support. This policy ensures our legal and ethical obligation to protect the wish children and family members we work with. We hope you can also recognize the necessity to respect their privacy and we appreciate your understanding.

The e-mail message that initiated this discussion was intended only for internal brainstorming with other Make-A-Wish Foundation chapters as we gathered information about what options we may have for the granting of this wish. Our goal was to gain some knowledge from the experiences of other Make-A-Wish chapters as we explored options that we may be able to pursue in granting a wish, but we are not yet ready to begin developing any specific wish-granting plans.

We have been given permission to share with you that, at this point, the wish child has not fully formulated his vision of his wish. As we're sure you can understand, one of the most important elements of wish granting is ensuring that the wish child has been given the time he or she needs to fully decide upon their wish. Once the child has formulated his or her vision, then we are thrilled to be able to step in to find creative ways to bring that child’s vision to life.

As we said before, we are truly very grateful for the offers of support we have received from those on this message board. We have also received information about numerous other potential resources around the country. Once the wish child has made a decision regarding the direction he would like his wish to take, we will begin planning in earnest. At that point, if we are able to utilize any of the resources that have been offered by members of this site, we will absolutely reach out to you. Please know, however, that whether or not we are able to accept the offers we have received, we truly appreciate all of the support that has been offered.

Best wishes!

disregard

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!