If they can dream it and we can grant it and make it happen, we're going to do our best to make it happen. Plant that one seed and it's still growing into this immaculate tree today. Whether it's the smile or the tears, what that wish meant to not just the child, but to the family. How has working with Indiana Wish changed your outlook on life? From South Bin to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation.
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Today I'm joined by Jaylen Edwards, executive director of Indiana Wish, the only nonprofit dedicated to granting wishes for Hoosier children with life-threatening illnesses. Now Jaylen brings joy and hope to families when they need it most right here in Indiana. Today we're going to dive into the work they've been doing in our Indiana community for the last 41 years. Then we're going to get a look inside the impact that Indiana Wish is making today and talk about how you guys could give or get involved with what they're doing. Jaylen, welcome to Get In. Thank you.
I'm uh I'm really excited about this one. Uh shout out to our guy Paul for making the connection here. Paul was uh with IMS Museum. Uh he is a great dude, an awesome community champion here in Indiana and he made this possible. So I'm super excited to dive in. I will say I had no idea that this was a 40 plus year old organization and the concept right and we can kind of start from the top of like uh the concept of what granting wishes are to uh who's your children just kind of set the scene for everyone.
Well yeah we've been here 41 years uh we were started August of 1984 with our first wish sending a kid to Cubs game with the need to grant wishes. I mean there was a child that wanted to go was suffering from a life-threatening illness and the community itself came together as a whole and sent this child and created what is now Indiana Wish. So just starts off like you know someone's neighbor or like you know someone that they knew from the community says you know I really want to go to a Cubs game and everyone came together and like go the the most like authentic way I feel like as I talk to other like leaders from missiondriven orgs and it's like it usually has this serendipitous start where it's like oh everyone came together and they're like wow why don't we make this a thing make it a thing so who what how did it like after that first Cubs game how did the entity form obviously very grassroots It was a neighborhood group that came together, granted this wish, and they continued to see the need of it, and eventually formed what is Indiana Wish, and it has continued to grow over the last 41 years.
How many individual wishes have y'all granted for over 3,500 wishes? Over 3,500 wishes. Okay. And we can kind of maybe talk through the process, right? It's like when a kid first off is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, comes home to mom and dad and says like, you know, I really want to go like what are the the stipulations? How do they get involved in and meet you guys?
You know, once a family has gone through the process and has been whether it's Riley or Pton Manning or where they're coming from and has been diagnosed with that, the social worker usually or it might be a nurse or a physician tells them that you know that your illness qualifies you for a wish possibly. And so then they're referred to us that way. And so they come to us with whatever that wish may be. And it could be, you know, Disney. It could be um we did a coffee card. It could be a bicycle.
A coffee cart. A coffee cart. That's my favorite. Wait. Oh, okay. We're going to save that one then till the end.
You got you got to listen to the entire episode to hear the favorite wish. Um and I think that it's important to know that uh Indiana Wish is an independent org. Correct. So, you know, there might be other organizations out there that that great. This is strictly run by Hoosiers supporting hoosier children. Uh which I think is and it started as a grassroots community or back in 1984.
Life-threatening illness diagnosis. Correct. Uh they get pointed your direction and then it's like the the world is their oyster. They can say anything or is there like stipulations? What are the guidelines that are obviously presented? There are guidelines.
So there are certain things we can't do. We won't pay for college for four years. But whatever they can dream up, if they can dream it and we can grant it and make it happen, we're going to do our best to make it happen. What is the one thing I've seen like John Cena has like granted like the most wishes per like he meets every every kid and I'm like that's so awesome to spend the time and it's like you're you know this this child's wish is to meet John Cena or to and we can talk about some of the the high-profile uh Hoosiers you guys have had involved over the years but it's like five to 30 minutes of this person's time is the like pinnacle bucket list item for you know all these these kids. I think that's super super cool. So, so take me through the progression.
So, 1984 over the past, you know, 40 years, did it start as like, hey, we could do five wishes or one wish and and how did that multiplier factor start happening? Yeah, I mean, over the years it's grown and obviously fundraising has changed. So, that drives how many wishes we can grant at the end of the day. So, I don't know if we granted five wishes the first year or if we granted 20. don't have those numbers unfortunately but as we continue to evolve I mean we've done one year we've done a hundred wishes so it just depends on the financial means the cost of the wish because we try not to cap the cost of a wish we try to meet the child and make sure that we can do the most amazing wish possible for them so we're budgeted for 40 this year well what's the age group like roughly like where do you think the kids that are coming to you guys where do they fall in that 3 to 18 is our age group that we all grant wishes for.
Three to 18. Oh, man. I like what's a three-year-old wish? A three-year-old is, you know, Disney or it might be a shopping spree to go get every toy they want. Just depends. I mean, and we've brought grandma and grandpa in from out of town, out of country to meet the child.
Maybe they haven't met the child, so that might be a wish as well. A wish for a three-year-old is definitely different than a wish for an 18-year-old. Oh, yeah. So, three-year-old wish, you know, one, I think the family ones are pretty cool. like, you know, grandma and grandpa flying in from wherever and and speeding to spend time there. And it's funny to see over the 15 year uh age gap, like what's an 18-year-old wish?
Well, we were going to grant one on Saturday and it's an ATV. An like they wanted a four-wheeler. Uhhuh. Oh, that's sick. That's awesome. Oh my gosh.
So, it's it can be whatever they want. I mean, we've done a what is it? A John Deere tractor and he started his own business. No way. Okay. So then when you think about lifethreatening illness like are there common di diagnosis that uh these kids are coming into your program it's like hey this is a kid that's battling cancer or what does that look like?
Yeah there I mean there are all sorts of diagnosis whether it's heart it could be cancer it could be a combination of things so there could be children with Down syndrome but they have several other conditions that qualify them as life-threatening. So it's across the board and we don't ourselves don't determine that. We have a medical committee that reviews each application and goes through the notes and the diagnosis and if there's um any question about what's going on with their care and figuring out whether they actually are life-threatening that's done by our medical community and by the medical stuff and is it like um time bound like are there like is there some sometimes where you've gotten like hey there's a a who's your child that needs a wish and it needs to happen in two weeks next week. Yeah, we just had one. Oh man, we just sent a three-year-old to Disney um that had three three weeks to live.
So, no way. So, we just did that that I mean, okay, so I want to talk the the work you're doing specifically is so impactful, but that is a lot of um an emotional I mean, it's a very emotional job, you know, like you're going through every day, you know, 40 wishes this year, but thousands over the course of the organization. And I'm sure the other thing is like how many if you had an unlimited budget, how many children in Indiana would qualify to have a wish granted? I can't even imagine what the true need is to give the wish. I can't I don't even have a number on that. I know.
How do you think through this this opportunity, but also the challenge and the emotional piece of of working in such an an impactful necessary like an or that that I mean is doing great great work but also managing like Yeah. You had three weeks to we had two weeks to create this wish. Oh my gosh. Our wish coordinator has been with us 39 of the 41 years. No way. So she um you could do it in her sleep.
So So what does a wish coordinator? What does that look is that the like the logistics piece of it? She's a logistic. She's the background. She's making the wish happen. She's making the reservations.
She's, you know, speaking to the parents. She's coordinating whatever that wish is, whatever go makes that wish happen. Well, because that's an interesting piece that I I didn't really think about going in is not only is it the financial, right? So, to go to Disney, but it's not just like, hey, here's five grand or whatever, go book your tickets. Like, that's even more stress of like, oh, now we have to plan out a whole family vacation. And like we're worried about this this way more pressing issue and it's making that as easy as possible for the families.
Yeah. We just need the information. We need to know when you can travel the names and information that we need to book tickets and we do all the work. You don't do anything. You show up. We have a limo pick you up and drive a limo.
Oh yeah. Oh. So you can imagine Yeah. You know like a 5 10 yearear-old like gets in a limo and gets to go to the airport and do this whole thing. Uh and have you built like relationship with Disney? It's like does Disney have like uh your wish coordinator has been there for 39 years.
She has like a hotline directly into Yeah, we have a partnership with a place called Give Kids the World which houses all of our wish children if the wishes in Orlando at Disney or Universal or whatever that might be. So there is another organization we work with that coordinates the housing, the ticketing, all the things you can do in Orlando area. Is Disney one of the most requested wishes or like what are the top three most requested wishes from Indiana Wish? Disney by far is our number one wish hands down. I mean the most what is it? The most the m most magical place on earth.
Magical place on earth. Yeah. I have not been to Disney in a while. Oh, one day I'll I'll get my payback there. I'm sure one day I'll have to, you know, go spend a ton of time there. So Disney's number one.
If there are there other like common theme you see are very popular. Uh like what what what store do people want to go to? Apple. Of course. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean that is talk about an experience.
It's usually girls. So, it's Apple, Lulu, you know, probably a purse is gonna happen somewhere along the way. Okay. Um, and anything in between. We had a um a teenager out of Playingfield who wanted nothing but Nike. So, we got all sorts of tennis shoes.
Oh, that's you name it, you know. Oh, yeah. And I mean, having a nice shoe collection, that's pretty cool. So, then when you go the opposite way, what are some of the most unique oneoff oneofone wishes you guys have granted? The tractor. the John Deere tractor.
Uh he wanted to start his own business and so how old give us set the scene for the tractor. I want to say he was around 16. Okay. And um in in Indianapolis or rural no rural community northern side of the state had a push lawn mower but wanted something bigger and better. And so we worked with Reynolds and they helped us get this John Deere tractor with all the attachments and they were kind enough to load it up and take we took a caravan of people up there. The child didn't know we were coming and so we did everything from business cards to t-shirts, the logo, you know, he had everything he needed to go in business.
That's incred. Talk about it's and that's a wish that's also an investment, right? I could that's a that's so I can't imagine wanting to like that's just so awesome you know like and which like granted Disney is amazing a great family experience Lulu all that stuff is but like you get this thing that just keeps on giving over you know a long extended period of time where every time he drives that truck you're just like man those people Reynolds and Indiana Wish those those people rock and like now you're out there you know changing your community and you know mowing lawns and the business cards that bumps me That's super exciting. Are there other unique wishes along the lines of that? The coffee cart as well. So there was a again up a little further north in a rural community, Chad, and he wanted a coffee cart in his school for the kids with disabilities to learn daily skills.
They had the classes, but they didn't have any hands-on experience. And so the coffee cart was put in the school. So like you see at the mall a kiosk with a with coffee machines on it and oh credit card the register like a re like this is this is a coffee shop setup or coffee cart set up set up in the school like so they're like selling coffee they're selling coffee they're selling danishes they're selling yeah you know granola bars how old how old is Chad I think Chad was 16 when we granted his wish and the coffee car is still operating today and that's been right at 10 years almost and unfortunately Chad lost is yeah um passed away um at around 18 but the cart is still up and operating. What uh what school is it at? Do you know? Tri central.
Tri central. The coffee cart at Tri Central High School. Chad's coffee cart. Chad's coffee cart at Tri Central High School. Like you as a community are charged to carry on this this legacy of the coffee cart that gives opportunity and is it like who are the employees around the coffee cart? It's the students from the school with learning disabilities.
So, it gives them the opportunity to have the hands-on training that they need, the daily experiences of, you know, making change, running a credit card machine, inventorying the coffee cart, and ordering the supplies. When when Chad came to you guys or and you guys got connected and was like, I want this. Maybe he did think about the impact that we would have that he would have a decade later, but it was like, this is going to make an impact for my immediate community and and these people that are in my life now. And 10 years later, it's still making an impact. And and it's like you plant Indiana Wish, right? You plant that one seed and it's still growing into this immaculate tree today.
It's so impactful. And I always say we need more Chads in the world, you know? Just an amazing young man. What I think is super amazing about the Chad story is he could have picked anything. Anything like he could have he could have picked like I want to, you know, go to Disney with just me and like this thing cuz it's it's about them, right? but then chose to be so generous of like, hey, this is going to help not only me but my my community.
I think that's really impactful. The one thing um I was kind of wondering going in is as this experience is going um what's the the feedback that you're getting from these parents as they're dealing with what seems to be the most adversity a lot of them like a lot of families will face in in a lifetime, right? is like a kid with a a life-threatening illness is I mean top of the list, right? Uh what do you what what feedback do you hear from parents that are going through this program? We hear things like, you know, it was something to look forward to. It was a time where we didn't have to worry about the condition.
My last memories are with my daughter. These are my last good memories of the time we spent together. I mean, things like that just tear at your heart. I mean, it's so important what we're doing and the impact that it makes. You may not really understand until you speak to somebody and see whether it's the smile or the tears or hear the story of what that wish meant to not just the child, but to the family. Yeah.
in like a in a season of life that can be filled with lots of trials and tribulations and adversity and just bad feelings generally bad. It's awesome to be able to have this moment of like, hey, but a week from now there's going to be this this awesome day of of you know, exactly what you wanted or what you asked for or this thing is going to come to life and you're going to get to drive your John Deere tractor or go to Disney and oh man, like it's hope. I mean it gives them something to look forward to and and provides hope and and the stories and the memories are there with the family or with the child as a whole, you know, as a whole as you think through. So you guys are currently budgeted for 40 wishes in 2025, correct? And you said like it's it's impossible to know how many wishes you could there that need to be granted there. But as you think through like what what are the ways that you guys are uh growing your budget and being able to grant more wishes?
Like I mean is it strictly like you're out there knocking on doors or are there big events or or how do you guys get the funding to make this possible? Funding comes from obviously several different resources but we do fundraising through events. So we have three large events this year. So we had the plane poll with Republic Airways. It's our largest uh fundraiser of the year. And then we will hold a gayla called Bourbon Bling and Bow Ties.
Oh, yeah. Lots of fun. And that's in September. And then we do Christmas in the kitchen at the end of the year, which there's just nothing like it. If you were a foodie, if you love to sample, it's held at the Hyatt downtown. They open up their um huge industrial kitchen and you can eat to your heart's desire.
In the kitchen. In the kitchen. Oh, it's fun. That is super cool. And it's at the Hyatt. It's at the Hyatt.
Well, I know I've heard about the plane pool cuz I think uh the plane pool also is there like a few NPOs that this benefits. Um and I think the Colts get involved and bring out a team to the plane pole if I'm if I'm players that come out. Not a whole team that pulls but but there's some players some individual players that come out. Um and I know that you guys have a rich history with the Colts. Yes. Right.
So talk to me. I mean in those 2000s early 2010s what uh what Colts players were you all working with? We used to do a event called celebrity softball and Robert Matthysse was always the uh team leader for that. Um rallying up Reggie would come out. Payton showed up a few times and we had a great time. They played um was kind of the Pacers versus uh the Colts.
Oh. In like a celebrity softball game. Uhhuh. Held down at Victory Field. And then a lot of local celebrities whether it was radio, TV, those types of people would show up and we they played against each other. What are the kind of wishes that you've seen?
Like you talk about Payton and Reggie and all those guys. What are the kind of wishes that you've seen granted on like a local level like that? Payton, a couple for sure. Robert um did several for us. It may not just have been the wish, but he was just always there in our back pocket if we had a kid that was into football or into sports where he would come out and meet them just as part of. And how do you guys go about um building those relationships within the community of like okay you just show up to the Colts and because it's I mean you keep knocking.
Yeah. You say hey come on now. Like you know that this is it's not about us. It's not about it's about like you know helping helping execute this thing for a for a child that is battling something far harder than a football game or or a you know celebrity you know movie shot whatever the thing might be. I can't imagine that we would knock on anybody's door locally and them tell us no at the end of the day. Nobody's going to say that.
So whether it's the Pacers, the Colts, I'm sure the Fever, the Indians, any of those guys in town are going to help us grant that wish. Have What's been the hardest wish to pull off? Like one that just took a lot of planning and preparation and maybe not just like a most expensive, but like this one was the craziest thing we ever pulled off. God, we had a kid go to Wall Street and ring the bell. Stop. Wait, how old is this kid?
Like 12. A 12-year-old came to you and said, "What? Like, what do you want to do?" He's like, "I want to ring the bell at Wall Street." Wall Street. So, who do you call?
Like, how do you get Well, we were lucky. We had several um financial managers that were part of the organization and they knew somebody who knew somebody. Isn't that a classic Indiana thing? It's like someone who grew up somewhere here that like has a connection down the road. And and this so this kid gets to show up on Wall Street and ring the bell. Ring the bell.
I mean, the environment there just had to be it just different, right? Like than than the usual Wall Street where, you know, I don't know who gets to ring the bell, like usually an entrepreneur or something, right? Uh but it's like this kid and it's like come on, that's that's so impactful and inspiring. Yeah. I mean, I could I would love to hear Yeah. Are there other favorite stories from of of moments of wishes that um have just like really resonated with you?
Yeah. We had a young girl who wanted to meet Mother Teresa as well and unfortunately Mother Teresa passed as we were trying to get the wish granted and um but she still went there and spent her week. Dude, where do you go? I don't know where she went, but she went she went. She went That's pretty cool. Okay.
I mean, Mother Teresa. Yeah. I don't know where they come up with it. Sometimes their imaginations um of what they can dream up or think of is just amazing. I don't know. Sometimes kids are just like Yeah.
crazy. I was I know there was exercises you go through because like when you have the options like what do you want to do? You could do anything you want and it's like it's like oh well think big and and do you have like when you sit down and talk with them about you know their wish do they usually come in there and like have it nailed down like I want to do this exact thing or do you go through like an exercise process? Most of them have it nailed down. So it's not as though we we're going through a process with them. Most of them it's I definitely want to go to Disney because it's something typically maybe the family can't afford to do, you know, or or has the time to do or put together.
So, typically it's Disney, but those ones that are oneoff, I mean, we sent a a girl to Paris and that was her wish was to go to Paris and eat croissants all over Paris and eat croissants. That's amazing. Here's a quick hack to downtown Indie for you. There are two parking garages right by Massav that are doing $6 for 6 hours of parking. It's uh Penrose on Mass. Uh if you go to the parking garage underneath that, it's $6 for 6 hours and block 20 right next to Rascaler.
Literally pay $6 for 6 hours of parking. It's the move right off NASA. Don't sleep on it. We could we could talk aund we could talk thousands of wishes because there's so many so much amazing work that you're being done. I'd like to know so how long have you been with Indiana Wish? I have volunteered with them since 1992 and have been on staff for 10 years.
You've been on staff for 10. I mean, wow. So, you've you've been around this or for a very long time. How has working with Indiana Wish changed your outlook on life? Tomorrow isn't promised at the end of the day. I mean, to love your family, your life, the people who are in it, don't take it for granted at the end of the day.
You just can't take it for granted. I couldn't agree more. my I like watched my mom battle cancer for uh for for several years and she ended up passing way back in 2017. And by the time we started having the conversation around what do you want to do? And it was like she just wasn't in a state to do anything. And so it was like a lot of like man like at some point you get to where it's like you can't go to Disney and you can't go on family vacation, you can't do and it's like that's really hard.
So, so actually I went through this thing. I uh I I don't know. I told the story maybe a few times. Her wish was to uh to see me get married and we're in the doctor's office like and they bring in their you know their social worker every time you have like she her cancer had like gone to her brain and her lungs and it was like it was they don't say what's going to happen but you kind of you know they bring in they have start having the conversations and she goes I want to see my son get married and the lady looks at me and goes oh my gosh when's the wedding? And I was like, I don't have a girlfriend at the time. Like I was like, no, no, there's no wedding.
And then so then the and the lady's jaw dropped. She was thinking there was like a wedding this summer that like, you know, oh yeah, we can make that. No. So she, oh, are there other things? And she's like, well, I want to see my son graduate from college and I was a sophomore at the time. And so I was like, oh my gosh, like I I can't get two I can't get two years of a degree.
And so I end up transferring to a Jo and getting my associates degree. And unfortunately she passed away like three weeks before my graduation. this time um that was just impactful of like going to whether it was a graduation or a marriage or traveling somewhere and it's like it was this thing I almost to relate it to when you're training for something or you're really looking forward to and you have like a mission and it was like we we just got to get to this date and it was this like shining glimmer of hope and it ties back to your original thought or original point about like in such a dark gloomy time like this light of like we're going to go get to do X Y or Z thing. It's just it's special and like it it really radiates through in the time where it probably feels like unending whatever whether it's you know your whatever disease might be might be be involved it's like this time of darkness and I don't know I just think it's super important.
It's like it gets me fired up. And a lot of times I feel like if people haven't experienced anything in that sort of realm, it's kind of like, "Oh yeah, that's pretty cool." But then at some point in your life, you have seen it and you're like, "Oh my gosh, this is something you have to do. We have to get this done." Sorry, I just went on a really long tangent monologue there. It's it is it's it's lifechanging at the end of the day.
Yeah. What's the feedback that you get from uh maybe volunteers or like what are ways people can volunteer? Like obviously you know the funding piece is one like show up to the events and do all that but like do you you said you've been a volunteer since '92. So what does being a volunteer look like? There's several different ways to get involved whether it's to help out an event. We have office help that comes in and helps us at the office.
There's only four of us. Oh wow. on staff and so we have a couple people that come in um on a weekly basis and help us with some of the office stuff we do. in the process of really developing our volunteer program, looking at putting quote teams together that would help with what we would call sendoffs. So, meet the family at the airport when, you know, that limo pulls up and we have the f, you know, volunteers out there with signs, you know, have fun on your wish, you know. Oh, I'm in.
If you need someone to do that, I will I will raise some pom poms or twirl some signs. 100%. I can bring the juice. You can bring the juice. Oh, absolutely. that would be so fun.
So, yeah, we're looking to really grow our volunteer program. It's it's been um more come to the event, help us at the event or set on a committee, join our board, but there's so much more and so many more impactful ways we could get volunteers involved. And I think that that wish process is part of it. You know, being part of the send off or the arrival back home or it's a shopping spree and you've got all these people following you around, you know, holding I'll hold bags. Hold bags. Come on.
help spend money, you know. Heck yeah. Like, oh, you need do you think these or these? Both. Yeah. The answer is both.
When you think about like one thing I love about Indiana and you talk about how this whole thing started back in 1984 is the community coming together to grant a wish for a young Cubs fan. Yeah. But, you know, I'm not going to yuck their wish, right? You know, you want to go watch baseball in Chicago? Cool. I love it.
That's your wish. community comes together, sends a kid to a Cubs game, and then just continues to like build and iterate and make this thing. Like Indiana is a community that that does support each other. When you think about the the years that you've been involved with the organization, are there companies, are there people that come to mind that have just gone above and beyond to show out for Indiana Wish? There are. I mean, Republic Airways can't say enough nice things about Republic.
Amy, do they do flights? Are they like the ones that are Well, Republic's Do they send Do they have an Orlando flight? I don't know. I'm sure they do, but they we don't so much send flights, but they run that plane pull. That is a huge fundraiser for not just us, but Riley and Pton Manning and a kid again. I mean, they're they're supporting so many organizations throughout Indiana and beyond.
So, Republic Airways, Wington Asset Management, Quiet in the Background. Um they've never heard of them. Terry over there um and his team are phenomenal at giving. I could pick up the phone and call Terry and tell him I need something and there's not a question asked about why or why. They will make it happen. Those kind of people I mean volunteers that have given of time and time, you know, over and over.
Christine, we met her through Republic and she gives of her her time. It doesn't matter when we call her and ask her. We have lots of people that just open their hearts and give. I love it. So Arie's Pizza, Kurt Cohen, they are huge supporters of us. Uh WTTS radio as well.
I mean, Rock on the River. Have you ever had Oh, I was I was just thinking that you talk about radio. Has like being a radio D like being on air for something ever been uh one of the kids' wishes? Not that I recall. No. Oh, man.
I think like uh yeah, being like a kid and getting to be like a DJ for an hour. That would be so cool. Not that I know of. Okay. All right. Not saying it didn't happen.
Well, if there's ever anyone that wants to I don't know if they want to be on a podcast or or if they want to uh like make social media content for a day or like be a quote unquote content creator. I'm all in. I think that would be so fun. Like let's say the wish uh whatever it might be, you know, let's say it was content creator for a day. It's like it ends up not only does it make the children's day year maybe, you know, uh but it also like impacts the person on the other side. It's going to change your life time and time again.
Like I've never gone to any sort of volunteer opportunity or service thing and at the end of it been like, "Oh, that was a waste." No, you're always like charged up. Like you might have given whatever you had to give, but you receive so much more. So much more. Gosh, it gets me. I wish I had unlimited hours.
I would literally go to every Oregon, do everything forever because it's just so it's so life-changing. It is at the end of the day. It's like a similar high to like working out, you know, where it's like you get that like post service high and you're like, let's like I I can just imagine like let's say it's like an 8:00 sendoff at the airport and I'm out there, you know, whatever time and I'm just fired up. Everyone's fired up sending off this family. I'm going to get so like the day is just going to be great. Like you can't have a bad day if that's how it starts.
Oh my gosh. Um I love it. So, as you think through ways that the community can support y'all, how can we help grant We're at 40 wishes today. How can we help grant 80 wishes next year? What do we need to do? Give.
I mean, at the end of the day, that's how we survive and that's how we grant wishes. And whether it's financial, whether it's time, whether it's you join a committee and help us gather donations, you know, inind donations, items for auction. Maybe you have a house that you don't use all the time in Florida. Give us a week of it. Yeah. Like one weekend.
Come on. Come on. I mean, or like maybe a little lake house like, you know, Lake Tippy, Lake Wawa Sea, wherever. It's like come two days. Take two days, do something different, watch a could help grant a wish. Are there um wishes or organizations within Indiana that you'd like to to have a partnership with or like if you could grant one awesome Indiana featured wish, what would it be?
That is a great question. I don't have a kid waiting asking for an Indiana wish. Oh, but if I did, like if there was like a young sporty spice girl that wanted to shoot threes with Kaitlin sick. That would be so sick. I don't know. I just think that there's a a ton of cool stuff happening in Indiana, especially like with women's sports being on the rise.
Oh, you can't say enough about that. Oh my lord. Like the Indiegite, the volleyball team, like there's just and I think every year I I would make the prediction that uh as time goes forward, like maybe the wishes will get closer to home as Indiana continues to evolve and develop. I think that there's a huge opportunity there. And I mean like who wouldn't want to shoot Hoops King? Maybe I'm giving out like someone someone from Indiana wishes could hear me.
Oh, I want to I want to play basketball. not be surprised, you know, in the next year if that's not something we get. So, Kaitlin, I apologize if this is where they get the idea from, but come on, that we got to make that happen. Absolutely. I mean, I would say, yeah, I would be surprised. Okay, so number one way people can get involved, right?
You got to give to help make this happen or like what are experiences that maybe people aren't thinking about or ways that like, oh, your company could be a part of this? like there are kids that are asking, you know, obviously Disney, but are there other companies or orgs that like could donate something or give something to help your guys' cause? Oh, yeah. Um, we've had companies donate, let's say, their their team for a day where they've gone in and they've wired a house for a hot tub. Oh, yeah. Like, so it's like sweat equity.
Yeah, sweat equity. Yeah. You know, another one that might be interesting, how often do you get like Colts or Pacers games? It's like I want to go to a game and do that whole thing. We don't get that often as the wish. It's usually something bigger they're requesting, but we do send families when the Pacers give us tickets.
So, they'll give us a block of tickets and we'll send current Wish families, past Wish families. It's part of um you know, something that additional on top of Yeah. Cuz I'm thinking like there's so many corporate sponsors or corporate companies out there that have a block of tickets or whatever and it's like oh no one's using them like well maybe this could be because that is the one thought that I had where it's like okay you grant this massive wish and then it's like okay well we have to you know go grant more wishes and they're kind of like they've went through the program and then they're kind of like alumni of it. How do you keep them engaged and and build this community of because I mean there's this other piece of they're all going through something similar and time spent with each other to like how are you invaluable. Yeah. And we do that.
We do uh wish family outings throughout the year typically uh one in the spring and summer and one in the fall and winter. So we might do a fuel game. We did that one of that recently. Talk about fun. Go fuel. It was a good time.
Pinheads. Yeah. Where we you know had a big bowling party. So, you know, that's another way they can give back. You know, Pin Heads opens up their the bowling alley. Yeah.
And gives us, you know, a couple hours there for our families to come in. So, that's other ways businesses could get involved. Maybe it's um you do have a bowling alley or you have a theater you could open up and let our families come in for the day. Oh, yeah. See a movie or And it's like a minimal like you're doing the same thing you do you right. It's like you're a movie theater.
you're bullying and it's like okay well you're instead of you know writing a check or doing whatever it's like okay we're just going to donate the thing that we have to help make an impact in this community cuz yeah that is the piece where it's like at service level you look at it and it's like okay we're we're granting wishes for children but you're also bringing together this community of families that are going through a really tough time and I'm sure there's this feeling it's like man no one understands like this is really hard and like having that group of people to be around and interact with and you know whether it's like sharing ideas or practice or things that you've been doing that have been helping. Oh man, that has to be so valuable. Yeah. So, we have like the coffee cart up at Tri Central. We have the John Deere tractor. Is there one final wish memory that every if every hooer needed to know about a specific wish that had been granted and the impact that it made?
Would would there be one that that they need to hear about? My personal impact, there was the young girl up around Ball State that wanted to go to Paris. her diagnosis was terminal. And so her mom brought her in to our office um in her wheelchair. You know, we had all this Paris balloons and we had the croissants and we had not that they were from Paris, but we had all these things at the office and we got to to tell her she was going to get to go and Lauren her heart so big. But we sent her, it was the one thing her family did together as a whole before she passed.
And then I actually attended her service. And talk about lifech changing. Lauren's um faith was so strong and for 18 or 19 year old young woman um to be so brave at facing what she did. Her um youth pastor got up to talk about her and he said, "In typical Lauren fashion, I can't do the job right." and Lauren popped up on all the screens at this church and she gave her last words to all of us sitting there. How not to mourn and how to be joyful for the life she led.
For me personally, it's not so much that we sent her on the wish, but it was the impact of Lauren's faith that was very um life-changing for me personally. and to see her just so brave and so I don't know it's it was a lot. Um but Lauren definitely left a mark on my heart at the end of the day. It's just something that certainly made me know I was in the right place. This is what I was meant to do. Um this is where I belong.
And I love that what we do makes a difference in not just that child that we're granting, but in wish we're granting, but it's the family, it's the community that surrounds that that person. Um, it's very impactful to see the difference that it it causes, the ripple effect along the way. Spoke to Lauren's mom not that long ago and she talks about how that one trip impacted all of her children and how worldly they are themselves. The parents had never traveled. They have ne never been able to provide that for their children. But those children now that are young adults are traveling the world and and seeing life very differently and they do it in honor and memory of of their sister.
Oh my I don't know. It's incredible. Uh that is my um one of my I mean Lauren and Chad certainly have left me a different person. And isn't it wild how certain individuals don't need a long time to become wise beyond their years? Like don't need 60 years to have the wisdom of a 60-year-old or the bravery of someone far beyond their years. Oh my gosh.
Uh I just like it gives me chills honestly when you really dive into what you're doing at Indiana Wish. Like on the surface level it's a shopping spree. On the surface level it's a vacation. But what then as we dove in, I mean, we've been going for, you know, 45 minutes now, and it's what I what I've got from it is like that's the like that's the base layer, but it's like the life-changing impact that comes around this experience and the hope and the this and the life lesson. as you talk about Lauren's siblings like continuing to go on that and and it's like who knows it's like had they not gone in Paris and like this travel experience that bonded them all even further than man it's just wild it it's just is so so moving and I appreciate the work that you and your team are doing all the volunteers all the partners and sponsors I just think it's it's vitally important and it's really cool to see hers uplifting other hooers especially when you're facing adversity u very very commendable it gets me worked up um couple questions that I had as you think through right so individuals out there the the average price of a wish like what does it cost to to create this experience for a child the average cost of a wish is $12,000 that's all things in you know sending them the flights the spending money if they need luggage we take care of that whatever that wish needs because you don't know where they're coming from in terms of like know this has it ever been like this is a family's first vacation.
Yeah. Oh man. Yeah. They they've never flown, they've never done any they've never been in an airport. I mean so walking them through step by step and and explaining what's going to happen and what they're going to need to do and and hold handholding at times. But yeah, making sure they're prepared for that.
So yeah, there's certainly been times we've bought luggage or clothing or whatever it is they've needed to make that wish everything and more. And and I know that in your office, right? Do you do you guys still have the wish wall? Yeah, we have pictures. Yeah. Of of all the And it's like talk about walking into an office every day and seeing like this is the mission.
This is what we're doing. And I think that I I saw we did our our sleuth thing where it's like Oh, did you? The motto, right, is like we don't say no, we find a way. We find a way. It's like you look at you look at the wall when it's like things get hard and you're like h I don't know if we're going to be able to pull out like Caitlyn Clark is very you know but it's like you look at the wish wall you say we're going to find a way we're going to figure it out. Come on.
Fires me up. I do have to ask too. Did you ever have any wishes that were Harry Potter themed? Not that I know. Oh okay. Hamilton.
Was it the Hamilton set? Like one time you had to I think I looked it up and Okay. I thought it was Hogwarts. It's Hamilton. Hamilton. Yes.
So you like recreated a set for a child to tell me about Well, actually one of our wish kids at one point was actually traveling with Hamilton. No way. Yeah. And so then we had a child that wanted to be part of the the Hamilton. And so those two obviously we reached out to the to the mom and we were able to connect and the child got to go to the to see Hamilton and see our WISH alumni child perform in Hamilton. So talk about Oh wow.
Super cool. and then go back behind the stage and meet everybody and yeah, talk about Oh my goodness, that's amazing. Well, we've come to the end of the show. I I appreciate you sharing all this and just I appreciate the impact that you're making in the lives of of children and their families all across the state of Indiana. Again, it's very very impactful work that I mean it just like has like a direct line right to my heart and just like gets me fired up um and makes me reflect on, you know, how lucky I've been and how lucky we all are to, you know, and tomorrow's not promising. We got to go out and, you know, make the most of of what we can today and be uh good stewards of our community.
I think above all like as if we think back to 1984 like the thread that's pulled throughout all this is that that the Hoosier State takes care of each other and one way we do that is through Indiana Wish and just to continue to do that and and you know support each other whether it's with your time I know the classic is the time the talent the treasure that's the classic lines but yeah it is but it's true right like whether you want to and I'm not I'm 100% serious when there's a a sendoff invite me out I will I will drive out to the air Oh, absolutely. Um, and I'll even rally some of my troops. I bet I could bring I bet I could bring some people and we'll do like an insane sendoff cuz if there's one thing I have plenty of, it's hype. So, we can make that happen. Yeah. Right.
I appreciate it. It's impactful. And we've come to the final segment of the show, which is the lightning round. It's not even that lightning anymore. We kind of like dive into each of the the topics, but I have three questions that I ask everyone who sits in the chair all around the state of Indiana. um that just kind of talks about, you know, community building, gets to share some love, you know.
Um so the first question is, what's something the world needs to know about Indiana? The world needs to know how giving and how kind Indiana is and the people that are here. There's just so much support and love. Like in the dictionary, oh in the dictionary, I feel like um it's hooer and then you go down and be like synonyms would be like selfless a lot of times. Like I mean majority of the time, majority of the time. And it's almost I always like sometimes I talk to people that aren't from here and they're uh like at first when they get here they're like, "Okay, what's the ulterior motive?
Like what does like why is this person being so nice to me? Like what do they want?" And it's like nothing, they just want you to succeed. Uh that's a that's a really great answer. Question two, what is a hidden gem in Indiana? Probably the biggest hidden gem is our compassion for others.
I think people here are generally very big-hearted. If you haven't been here, I guess you wouldn't know it. Yeah. Right. All the way up to you talking about like Robert Matthysse, you know, like even the even the indie celebrities are still the most good people. We're good.
We're good people. Yes. Amen. Put that on the sign. Welcome to Indiana, home of the good people. Um, final.
Who is a Hoosier we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. A kid. Again, they're out there making an impact as well. uh to who's your kids with life-threatening illnesses, offering them adventures every other month. So, yeah.
And it's kind of a good compliment. I feel like your two orgs, right? Theirs would be like we take a group of uh 100 kids to uh Indiana Beach or something like that on like a more I would say like um less maybe extravagant wish, but on a more consistent like you could go to King's Island or wherever, you know, or whatever it is for the day. It might be a Christmas party or a it might be an Indians game but yeah and it's like bringing that community together um you know like you know you bring a hundred families that are all in a similar situation which is again really really important. Um I think a kid again is doing great work and they're involved with the plane pull as well right they have um oh my gosh you talked about so one I need to come to was it called kitchen Christmas in the kitchen Christmas in the kitchen. All right, I'm putting that on my list because they also have a really interesting fundraiser, the songwriting boot camp thing and I love and it's a country music.
I mean, it just spoke right to my heart. I was like I So, one kitchen speaks right to my stomach. So, I need to go to Christmas in the kitchen and the other one from a kid again. I don't remember exactly what it's called, but it's like their song. They bring songwriters from Nashville and they get to go into like the music that they've written and you know, I just I love country music and I love food. So you guys are you guys are speaking uh amazing.
Well, thank you for all the hard work. Thank you for coming on the show. We uh we really appreciate it. Keep up the great work. Um if people want to get plugged in with what you guys are doing at Indiana Wish, how can they find y'all? indianawish.
org. Boom. Easy enough. Indianaish. org. Whether it's time tell if you out there want to be in the hype train with me for a sendoff at the airport when we're sending someone to Disney or wherever they may be going, hit me up on Instagram.
We'll set up a time. Maybe we even make it like a a quarterly like an ongoing thing. We're going to do it, you know, once a quarter. We're going to bring a crew and we're just going to have the greatest spectacular sendoff the world has ever seen. I love it. I I'm fired up for that.
I appreciate it. Thank you. And we'll talk soon. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode of Get In. If you like what you heard, make sure you leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.
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