Greeks granting wishes to kids
Doug T. Graham/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 3/10/10 Section: News
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Greeks Make-A-Wish is a group of students from Eastern's fraternities and sororities that brought Buckels to campus.
She explained, as a wish granter, it was her job to visit with the sick children and ask them what they want most in the entire world.
"I tell them to think big," Buckels said. "Most of their wishes are either 'I wanna go,' 'I wanna meet' or 'I wanna have.'"
Buckels talked about her experience as a wish granter for Joel, a 10-year-old from Shelbyville, that Greeks Make-A-Wish are sponsoring directly. Buckels said Joel, who is suffering from cystic fibrosis, only had one wish - to go to Hollywood and be in a movie.
Buckels said she received word there was a Hollywood movie production filming in New Orleans, and the family was flown there for shooting.
The movie Joel appeared in is called "Earthbound," which stars Kate Hudson and Whoopi Goldberg. He appears as a roller-skating extra in a scene where Kate Hudson's character is riding her bike through a park. Buckels said Joel's wish fit his personality perfectly.
"I know (being in movies) is what he's gonna do some day," Buckels said. "His house is decorated in movies and stage stuff."
Although Joel's wish has already been granted, all the money raised by Greeks Make-A-Wish will go toward his expenses. Buckels said the average wish costs about $7,500.
Buckels said after a child makes a wish, it will go to the Illinois headquarters in Chicago, and they do all necessary work to make the child's wish a reality.
There were 702 wishes granted in Illinois last year, and Buckels said not all of them were as extravagant as a trip to Disney World or Hawaii.
Buckels shared a story about a teenager named Samantha, whose wish was to get Invisalign braces. Buckels said because Invisalign donated the braces and a dentist put them in for free, the Make-A-Wish Foundation drove Samantha to the clinic in a limousine to make the experience feel even more special.
Buckels said she hopes to be able to bring children from the Make-A-Wish program to Eastern in the fall so the members of Greeks Make-A-Wish can meet them and better understand how much the wishes mean to them.
"These kids never stop smiling," said Buckels. "Despite it all they will tell you that they will be fine."
Weston Steinberg, a senior elementary education major, formed Greeks Make-A-Wish last semester, which is one of the few on campus whose membership spans every fraternity and sorority. Steinberg worked with Make-A-Wish in high school.
"I always wanted to bring it to Eastern," he said. "I found a way to involve all of Greek life to share one goal."
Greeks Make-A-Wish will partner with Monical's Pizza in Charleston and Mattoon April 12. If a student brings in a flier to one of the restaurants, 20 percent of the sale will be donated to Make-A-Wish.
The group sold wristbands and T-shirts at the event Tuesday to raise money for Make-A-Wish.
Doug T. Graham can be reached at 581-7942 or dtgraham@eiu.edu.
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