From Marlene:

The MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF ORANGE COUNTY has been my passion for years. I make time day or night to Grant Wishes to children under the age of 18 with a Life Threatening disease. I have at least 3-4 families I work with at a time. I am in various stages of granting their wishes and before I complete them I volunteer for another. 

Unfortunately I was scheduled to grant a wish for a little 5-year-old little girl named Dulce recently, 3 days before the big Wish Day, she passed away suddenly in a coma. She had a brain tumor, home from the hospital; ready for Disneyland when we got a call that she was back in the hospital. It was a shock to find out that she died so quickly. We had visited Dulce in the hospital to begin with, met her family and worked out her wish.

Another Wish Child Shannon has been in the hospital for 15 weeks. I granted her wish 2 years ago when she turned sweet sixteen. She has a very rare disease called Systinosis, it attached her kidney and she had a transplant. Last August I was told she had severe pains in her abdomen. Her parents took her to the hospital and she went into a coma. I went to see her in intensive care where she remained in a coma for a month. It was wonderful when she woke up a month later.She was hooked up to every piece of machinery you could imagine! She didn’t remember what happened during that month. Now she is in the hospital with a huge growth on her stomach and is being fed intravenously. 

Crystal was a very special Wish Child, she was in the Orangewood Orphange. I learned a lot about orphanages by going on a tour with the staff while discussing Crystal. I thought her family had given her up but it turns out she was taken to the Orphanage for her own good.  Having Cystic Fibrosis needs a lot of special care and medication. The first time my wish partner and myself met Crystal at the Hospital she wouldn’t even speak. Once my partner and her social worker left the room, she opened up and talked to me a little but we could not get her to give us her wish. Once she was returned to her family we went to visit her there, she had no desire to talk to anyone. It took us about 5 visits to finally get Crystal to write down what she wanted as her Wish, a Computer! I had to sit on the floor in the corner of her room with her to get her to communicate. What a sweet unfortunate little girl.

One of my favorite events is when I co-chaired the Annual Christmas Party for all of the Wish Children and their families. We had approximately 500 people at the Marriott in Disneyland.  We had the Fire Dept, celebrities, clowns and entertainment. It is the event that our Wish Families wait for yearly. The kids love the fun; the people who come to help can’t wait to come again.  It is really a hands-on day with all of these wonderful kids!

I also serve on the Special Events/Projects Committee. I am the Liason for 3 events;  the National Charity Leagues Fashion Show, a Bowl-A-Thon and an Ice Cream Social, all to bring in proceeds for The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County.

I “Meet & Greet” at the Airport, greeting all the kids that come from around the Country. I help them get their luggage and rental cars and then get directions for them to their hotels. During their stay if they need any assistance they can call me to be there for them. 

I am so grateful to be a part of this wonderful organization. I just love spending time with each and every terrific Wish Child. I feel so fortunate to be allowed to experience the pleasure of seeing their smiles when we grant their wishes. 

Marlene Dietrich

Orange County Real Estate Specialist