Make-A-Wish giving kids options, still granting wishes

DENVER — The pandemic might have stopped a lot of things in the world, but it didn’t stop a devastating diagnosis from getting to 7-year-old Peter Voss and his family.

“I had a tumor,” the little boy said.

“They diagnosed him with Ewing sarcoma, it’s a rare childhood bone cancer,” his mom Jamie explained.

Peter would go through 14 rounds of chemotherapy and need surgery. He was offered a wish from Make-A-Wish Colorado.

“He wanted to go to Hawaii and have a coconut drink on the beach,” his mom said.

But the global pandemic threw him another curveball. In the time of COVID, with a compromised immune system, his trip couldn’t happen right away.

“They didn’t allow travel wishes,” Peter said.

“Peter said, ‘Well I have other wishes! I know what we could do. We could get a camper and we could go anywhere we wanted,’” his mom said.

Peter’s wish was granted with the help of Camping World. He’s one of hundreds of wish kids in Colorado who were given the option to wait to travel for their wishes, or to “re-imagine” a new wish to be granted right away. Many are taking that second option and keeping the local chapter quite busy.

“We’re on track to grant almost 200 wishes this year,” Make-A-Wish Colorado CEO and President Scott Dishong said. “Outdoor wishes, backyard makeovers, hot tubs, stuff to enjoy now.”

But Make-A-Wish in Colorado still has nearly 500 wishes, nearly an entire normal year’s worth, on hold. That makes their annual fundraiser, an online auction this year, that much more important.

“Our ‘Hope is Essential’ campaign this year is our opportunity to raise the funds needed to get all of those wishes that are waiting granted as quickly as we can,” Dishong explained.

The online auction runs from June 22-26.

“Wish” 7-year-old Peter said, “After Make-A-Wish.”

That’s what the little boy, now cancer-free, named his new camper. And though he probably doesn’t fully understand how an online fundraising auction works, he still hopes it’s successful.

“So that other kids can get great wishes,” he said.