Santa’s Wish

For more than 30 years, the Wish I Could Foundation has been making dreams come true for children with life-threatening illnesses. Long-term volunteers Don O’Toole and Mike Roberts (Santa) talk to BayouLife about this life-changing organization.

story by MICHAEL DEVAULT | photography by EMERALD MCINTYRE

When Don O’Toole first arrived in Monroe as the food and beverage manager for the Holiday Inn Holidome, his boss tasked him with two chores: represent the company at the Northeast Louisiana Restaurant Association and handle the logistics for an annual Christmas party for a young non-profit organization.

At the time, Don had no clue that hosting a Christmas party would become one of his life’s missions, but that’s exactly what happened in 1987, when Don helped organize and emcee the third annual Christmas dinner for Wish I Could, an organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. “At that point in time, there were only four or five kids in the organization,” Don says. “So, from 1987 until today—this will be the 32nd year for the Christmas party—I’ve emceed the party every year.”

Wish I Could was founded in 1984 by a Delhi family, who wanted to bring joy to children, with life-threatening illnesses. The Delhi grandparents had experienced first-hand the importance of enjoyment and wish-granting to children who were facing crisis. Their grandchild had received a wish from a similar organization based out of south Louisiana. “After the child passed away, they decided they wanted to start an organization to grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses in northeast Louisiana,” Don says. To receive a wish, children and their families provide a letter from the child’s physician confirming the diagnosis and fill out a simple form. The organization then “grants” the wish.

Wishes range from new bedroom furniture or a computer to trips to Disney World or meeting their favorite celebrity. Whenever the organization can grant the wish, they do so. Wish I Could also becomes an on-going part of their lives through the Christmas party, which has become one of the highlights of the year for hundreds of children and their families across northeast Louisiana. Held each year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, children in the organization bring their families to the event, where they enjoy food, fellowship and more than a little fun. And what kind of Christmas party would it be if Santa Claus didn’t show up to pass out Christmas presents to the kids?

Don isn’t the only long-term volunteer at Wish I Could. Local home inspector Mike Roberts has also been involved in the group for more than 30 years. And, like O’Toole, he’s involved because of his work at the Holidome.

When the party first kicked off in 1984, Mike was the manager of BobbySox, a popular Monroe nightclub housed at the hotel. Mike enlisted as the organization’s Santa, a duty he’s carried out every year with the exception of two–the first year and a year he lived in in Alabama.

For the first nine years, the Christmas party found its home at the Holidome, a natural fit given Don and Mike’s involvement. By 1996, the organization’s children had grown to between 25 and 30 kids every year. Combined with their families and the various volunteers, the Christmas party routinely exceeded 300 people. When a new manager took over the Holidome, though, he had different ideas for the organization’s charitable activities, and the party was suddenly homeless. That’s when the ladies of the Moose Lodge stepped in.

For years, the ladies had volunteered as clowns for the party. They handled registration at the door, volunteering with the kids and helping with other activities during the event. When they discovered Wish I Could needed a new location, they volunteered the lodge, a sprawling, open space on Highway 594.

“It was ideal for doing the party,” Don says.

While Wish I Could’s beneficiaries were growing each year, so too was the size of the organization’s impact on the community at large. They began hosting a swamp ride at the Beouf River Wildlife Refuge—the Marengo Swamp Ride—which drew thousands of participants for off-road fun. A few years later, Yamaha Corp. began donating a four-wheeler to the organization for them to auction off.

Over the years, Wish I Could became something of a clearinghouse for charitable donations. In addition to granting wishes to kids in the program, they donated heavily to other area organizations.

Don points out they’ve given to the Shriner’s Hospital in Shreveport, to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and to the local Barak Shrine’s transportation fund. For many years, the organization raised and donated some $55,000 to the groups. They also made an ally of the Shriners, who began hosting the Christmas party at the Barak Shrine Temple when the Moose Lodge lost its charter.

“The first year we did the party at the shrine, they charged me $500 for the building for the party,” Don says. “But after that first year, it’s been free ever since, because we donate to both their hospital and their transportation fund.”

This year is the first year the organization hasn’t had it’s signature Marengo Swamp Ride. Their trail was paved over recently, depriving the organization of its chief fund raiser. They’re exploring options for new events to replace the $50,000-70,000 a year the swamp ride raised.

But luckily, the Christmas party goes on. For those early years, paying for an annual party was challenging. Both Don and Mike remember times when Mike’s servers would pass a pitcher around the dance floor at BobbySox to raise money for the party. But that changed with the introduction of Yamaha’s participation. Other years found volunteers on street corners, soliciting donations from car windows in traffic.

“The Wish I Could organization agreed that, instead of worrying every year about how we would pay for the Christmas party, we would use the money from the Yamaha four-wheeler raffle instead,” Don says. “The party has now grown to where we invite 60 or 70 kids and their families to the party every year.”

Even with a free building, the annual Christmas party is an expensive affair. First, there’s the food for more than 300 people. Then, there are presents. With a limit of around $100 per kid each year, presents can cost up to $7,000. Add food and other expenses, and it’s easy to see how quickly the costs escalate to more than $10,000.

In addition to financial resources, other help has come along, too. Gary Miers and Kim Walker have been annual participants, bringing animals from the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo to the event. The Monroe Fire Department sends a truck to the parking lot, as well as one of the Fire Marshal’s SUVs, too. “The kids like the fire engines, so we always try to have one for them to look at,” Don says. Others involved are the Miss Louisiana Organization, which normally sends the reigning Miss Louisiana. This year, Miss Louisiana is committed to holiday football games, so they’re sending Miss Louisiana Outstanding Teen, instead.

World-record-holding youth aviator Mason Andrews will be on hand to spend time with the kids, as will Ashley Cuthbert, of A Work of Heart. As has become tradition, too, Gene Shaw will provide entertainment. Long-term volunteers seem to be the order of the day for the Wish I Could Christmas party. “I call them every year, and they all say the same thing,” Don says. “They tell me, ‘You don’t have to call, because as long as I’m alive, I’ll be there.”

Mike concurs. He’ll forego Sunday football to don his Santa suit and pass out gifts. In fact, Mike can’t think of anywhere he’d rather be. After all, he’s become a fixture in the world of the kids. They’ve become more than just people who come to a party. After 30 years, some of them have become family.

He remembers the time he met a young teen, named Terry. She had been diagnosed with leukemia, which was in remission. Each year, she would return and was excited to see him. When she turned 18, they asked her what her wish would be and she said she wanted to go to a nightclub.

“They brought her to BobbySox and put her in the D.J. booth with me,” Mike says. “When I announced the next song, she grabbed me and said, ‘You’re Santa!’ For all those years, she had been coming to the Christmas party and never knew who Santa was.”

Mike gets choked up talking about Terry. He notes that the last moment of the Christmas party each year features the Oak Ridge Boys hit, “Thank God for Kids.”
After many years of remission, Terry’s cancer returned, and she learned it was terminal. She had one last wish.

“She asked to see Santa,” Mike says.

In the middle of the year, he donned his Santa suit and reported to the hospital. “I played ‘Thank God for Kids’ for her on my cell phone until she died.”

When she passed, Wish I Could had been a fixture in Terry’s life for more than 30 years. She’s also the root of the wish both Mike and Don expressed. “I have one wish,” Mike says. “Just one Christmas, I want to go the party and find out we haven’t lost a single one of our kids. That’s not happened—yet.”

The Wish I Could Chrismas Party is held each year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. If you know of a child facing a life-threatening or terminal illness, they can have their wish granted through Wish I Could. For more information, or if you’d like to get involved in their mission, visit www.wishicould.org.