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Wishes We've Granted
Enjoy the beautiful smile on Thomas's face as he has fun at Give Kids the World - a wish granted by Jason's Dreams For Kids!
Fulfilling Promises, Answering Wishes
Jason Douglas Creager was 18 years old when he lost his battle with bone marrow cancer in 1992. Just before he died, he told his uncle, Dennis McGinnis, that if he couldn't cure him, he wanted McGinnis never to forget him.
McGinnis promised his nephew he never would, and he backed that up that same year by forming an organization called Jason's Dreams for Kids. Since its founding, the organization has raised funds and received donations to put smiles on the faces of hundreds of children suffering a life-threatening illness, McGinnis said.
Jason's Dreams for Kids learns of children with serious illnesses through social workers, hospitals, friends and families previously helped by the organization. Its five board members meet bimonthly to discuss the children they are helping and what they want to accomplish.
"Children's dreams have run the gamut from meeting a famous person to flying in an F-14 fighter jet," said McGinnis, a Middletown resident who owns McGinnis Printing in Red Bank. "If I didn't make their wishes come true, I would be breaking a promise to my nephew."
Among some wishes fulfilled included Timothy Gigi's, a 19-year-old resident of the Colonia section of Woodbridge whose Hodgkin's disease has been in remission for a year, McGinnis said.
"We couldn't locate an F-14 for Tim last weekend, but we found a World War II biplane that the owner agreed to take us up in," McGinnis said. "We went for a ride at Allaire Airport (now Monmouth Executive Airport) Saturday, and Tim was absolutely thrilled. You would have though I gave this teenager a new life.
"And Richie of Washington Township wanted to play a part in a movie," McGinnis said. "We got him to play a part in the movie, 'Gloria,' (1999) with Sharon Stone."
Another youngster who is having his wish fulfilled is 5-year-old Dalton Pederson, the only child of William and Laura Pederson of Long Branch. Dalton didn't ask for anything as far-out as a jet plane ride or a part in a movie. He wanted a room in which he could play with his trains. That room is under construction in a section of an old shop connected to his parents' home on Grand Avenue.
Remodeling the room is Kevin Freibott, a Middletown Police Officer with construction experience. Freibott has had another experience that drew him to Jason's Dreams. He lost his 26-month-old daughter to bone marrow cancer Easter Sunday 2002.
Freibott had told McGinnis he wanted to help the organization that helped his daughter. Jason's Dreams had raised funds to offset the medical expenses for Freibott's daughter through a dinner-dance and auction.
McGinnis said some of the board members and 17 honorary board members have been helped by Jason's Dreams and have volunteered their services and time to see a child's wish fulfilled.
One of the organization's supporters is Lee Mazekian, owner of the Outback Steakhouse in Middletown. He asked guests at his 50th birthday party to make donations to Jason's Dreams in lieu of gifts, to raise money needed to build Dalton's room.
"I think it's truly amazing that these people are taking the time out to help other people," Laura Pederson said.
As for Dalton, "He keeps asking when is his train room going to be ready," his mother said. "He has a bunch of trains throughout the house, in every conceivable place except the kitchen or bathrooms. Now he just needs a place where we won't be tripping over them, someplace he can call his own."
The Pedersons can thank Laura Pederson's employer, the Eatontown law firm of Wilentz Goldman and Spitzer for purchasing a train set for her son.
"We're going to hire someone to help set up the electrical train set," she said. "Local artists already have volunteered to come here and paint murals on the walls of Dalton's room."
Train Room Proves Ticket to Boy's Dream
A playroom for his trains is what 5-year-old Dalton Pederson asked for when given one wish.
It is a simple dream for a child who was diagnosed with bone cancer in September 2003 and recently had one arm replaced with a prosthetic, and the bone in his left shoulder and upper arm replaced with a metal rod.
This week, Dalton saw that dream come true. A section of an old shop that is connected to the Pederson's detached carriage home on Grand Avenue in Long Branch became a room dedicated to the only-child's train collection.
His mother, Laura Pederson, said her son is a real train boy. Her co-workers bought Dalton an electric train set with a display for Christmas last year, but he never really had a place to set it up, she said.
"He is so excited," Pederson said. "He just loves trains. It's trains, trains, and more trains with him."
This is just one of more than 800 dreams fulfilled by Jason's Dreams for Kids Inc., an organization that grants wishes to children who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.
Jason's Dreams was founded by Dennis McGinnis, 47, a resident of Middletown who owns a printing business in Red Bank.
McGinnis has put smiles on hundreds of kids' faces to keep a promise he made with his nephew Jason Douglas Creager, who died in 1992 after losing his battle with cancer.
"About a month before my nephew passed away, he called me and told me what he wanted for Christmas," McGinnis said. "I told him whatever he wanted, I would get, as long as I could. He said he didn't want to die."
McGinnis said his nephew told him if he could not cure him, he wanted his uncle to promise that he would never forget him.
That year, the organization was founded in memory of Jason, and McGinnis saw to it that any child who had a life-threatening illness that he came in contact with got to see his or her dream come true, whether it be meeting a famous person or flying on an F-14 fighter jet.
"If I didn't make their wishes come true, I would be breaking a promise to my nephew," McGinnis said, who said he never failed to fulfill a dream because of the circumstances of the organization.
Jason's Dreams is run by McGinnis and a five-member board that meets about every other month to discuss the children they are helping and what they are looking to accomplish.
The organization relies on fundraisers and donations to raise the money needed to fulfill the dreams of the children. Many times supporters of the organization or families that have previously been helped by Jason's Dreams volunteer their services and time to see a child's wish fulfilled, which is what happened in the case of 5-year-old Dalton.
McGinnis and Dalton met each other through a mutual friend, and Jason's Dreams began arranging for Dalton's train room to be constructed.
Lee Mazekian, owner of the Outback Steakhouse in Middletown and a supporter of the organization, requested that the guests of his 59th birthday party make donations to Jason's Dreams in lieu of gifts to fund the money needed for the room.
The construction for the room was done by Kevin Freibott, a police officer in Middletown who has experience in construction. Freibott's 24-month-old daughter died two years ago. He told McGinnis he wanted to help the organization that helped his daughter.
The board members of Jason's Dreams have made the wishes come true for all the children with catastrophic illnesses that they hear about through social workers, hospitals, friends or through families the organization has previously helped, McGinnis said.
"I think they (Jason's Dreams) are just wonderful," Pederson said. "It is important to have organizations like this. It is wonderful how volunteers and the people who work for Jason's Dreams help children."
Just over two weeks ago, the construction for the train room began, and today Dalton has a fully refinished room with a rug where he can play with his trains.
Pederson said she is going to hire someone to help set up the electrical train set and local artists have already volunteered to come to the room and paint train murals on the wall.
"It is unfortunate the way children are affected their whole lives by these illnesses," Pederson said. "It is remarkable seeing what Dennis (McGinnis) does for them."
Justin and Mickey having fun
Adam's 2006 trip to Disney World
Rebecca having fun with her brother!
Jason's Dreams For Kids is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization.
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