Make-A-Wish seeks bilingual volunteers

Jessica Miller cannot say there's a shortage of bilingual volunteers at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois.

But she can say that as Hispanic populations grow in certain counties, current bilingual volunteers end up getting stretched thin as they try to help children who have life-threatening medical conditions.

"We know there are more and more families who speak Spanish in our area," said Miller, the organization's communications manager. "We want to make sure we have the resources."

In anticipation of the continued growth of the Hispanic population in DuPage, Kane and Lake counties, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois said it needs more bilingual volunteers here.

Last year, roughly 20 percent of the 629 wishes granted by the foundation in Illinois were for Hispanic children. The Hispanic population in DuPage County is 11.9 percent, less than the 14.7 percent overall in Illinois. Kane is 27.8 percent Hispanic and Lake is 18.7 percent Hispanic.

The volunteers serve many roles, including being a liaison between the families and the foundation.

"They're really the front lines with the families," Miller said of the volunteers. "They are the arms and legs in the community."

Stephanie Ascencio of Geneva knows firsthand what volunteers do for a child who requests a wish.

Her daughter, Alexi, has histiocytosis, a rare blood disease in which blood cells cluster together to attack several organs and/or the central nervous system.

As a 4-year-old in 2004, Alexi wanted to see "the big guys," meaning Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and the rest of the Disney crew.

Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois, Alexi received her wish and volunteers were there every step of the way.

They showed up at the Ascencio home and asked Stephanie if they could just hang out with Alexi, in order to get to know her. This impressed Stephanie, who has since become a volunteer.

"These volunteers are so personable," she said. "They just wanted her to feel great. When it comes to all wish kids, they're all the same. They're just struggling at such a young age."

During the trip, Stephanie said, volunteers greeted them at the airport with balloons to send her off and then again at Disney World. Alexi's disease is now in remission after she underwent low-dosage chemotherapy for more than seven years.

Miller said the bilingual volunteers who work for the foundation right now do a great job of handling the volume of wishes, but she said it'd be nice to be able to spread it out, especially with the Hispanic population's growth in the area not expected to stop anytime soon.

"It's a trend we're noticing," she said. "We just want to get ahead of it."

Miller has granted wishes as well and said she can't really compare the feeling anything else.

"It's amazing to know that you've been a part of something that will make a child happy for a really long time," Miller said.

For details or to volunteer, e-mail miller@wishes.org or call the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois at (800) 978-WISH.