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Marlene
Marlene Larson is a wonderful mother, friend and person. She has four children and six grandchildren. Marlene is always thinking of others and is there to provide advice, laughs, or just to ear to listen. She likes to volunteer her time and help those who need it most. Marlene deals with respiratory problems and pa...in from arthritis and fibromyalgia on a daily basis. Her physical ailments do not stop her from reaching out to others.
Marlene's two youngest grandchildren are Iva Willan (age 14) and Monyque Perez (age 17). The girls live with their mother in San Diego and are supported by the welfare system. Marlene has not seen them in almost 7 years and is concerned about their well being.
Marlene's daughter Anita saved enough money to bring Iva to Colorado over the holidays but could not afford to purchase a ticket for Monyque. JBWOL granted Marlene's wish and flew Monyque in for the holidays with her sister Iva. It is very important that Marlene is to be able to spend quality time with her granddaughters and give them all an opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime.
Special thanks to Char Bloom, Sarah Bodhaine, Patricia Moynihan, Sean Moynihan, Elva Pellouchoud, Jane Runge and Epiphany Luxury for their donations to Marlene's wish and helping to make this dream come true.
Jerry and Linda
Jerry was involved in a bicycle accident a few years ago and suffered from a brain aneurysm. His wife Linda is by his side 24/7 as his caregiver. Their wish was to get their freedom back. Our foundation put a bruno turney chair in their van so that Jerry can leave the house.
See and hear their amazing story in the video below.
Murial
Murial is fighting lung cancer and has a very hard time sleeping at night. Her wish was to have a comfortable recliner so that she could sleep better. Thank you to American Furniture Warehouse for donating the recliner for her.
Bernice
Bernice is a fun loving senior who loves making jokes and living life on the lighter side. Her wish was to go on a date with our founder and he was more than happy to accept.
Chokyi
67-year-old Chokyi has had some amazing experiences in her lifetime. The parent of five children and grandparent to eight grandchildren and two great grands, Chokyi knows all about the importance of family and education. At 18 years of age, she was married to a "gypsy" who literally flipped a coin to determine if they'd stay in New York or discard their belongings, get on bikes, and ride to Colorado. The ride to Colorado won!
Chokyi started college at Metro but never finished her degree. Forty years after beginning her college journey, Chokyi decided it was time to return and do something meaningful for herself. She is currently taking a 15 credit load, which includes classes like Colorado History and Anthropology. She recently took her first Anthropology test and scored an 82%-not too shabby for someone who's been out of the college scene for many years. Chokyi provides an intergenerational opportunity for her college peers, where they learn even more from Chokyi and her life experiences than from a textbook. Thanks to the credits that carried over when Chokyi first attended college, she will be a part of the School of Social Work next semester and should be graduating in 2011.
Chokyi requested a laptop and a printer to use for her school papers and projects. Thanks to the generosity of Compass Bank and Char Bloom, JBWL was able to donate both to Chokyi.
Flora
76-year-old Floras was the single parent to five children and also assisted in raising four of her grandchildren. Tending to her family, she had very little money and was never able to do nice things for herself. Desiring to give her time back to others, Flora has spent the last 5 and a half years volunteering 15 hours per week with toddlers through the Volunteers of America Foster Grandparent Program.
Flora's wish was simple-she wanted a shopping spree and massage. After years of tending to her family and the children she volunteers with, Flora definitely deserved a little pampering! Thanks to the generosity of Neiman Marcus and Click Salon, both in the Cherry Creek Shopping District in Denver, CO, Flora got the pampering she desired. Neiman Marcus provided Flora with an almost $600 shopping spree then treated her to a facial and makeover. After her time at Neiman Marcus, Flora headed over to Click Salon where owner, Charlie Price (www.charliepricehair.com), donated $100 of his services to shampoo and style Flora's hair.
Flora was accompanied by her daughter, Pam, and both greatly appreciated JBWL for providing Flora with this wonderful opportunity.
Lucy
Lucy was 8 years old
when she was first introduced to sky diving. She watched a paratrooper movie
and told herself that one day she was going to jump out of a plane. We first
met Lucy several months ago and she told us her wish was to go sky diving.
We almost fell out of our chairs. Her doctor recently gave her medical
clearance and 64 years after watching the movie Lucy lived out her dream. She
is living proof that growing older doesn't mean that you have to stop chasing
your dreams and living life to its fullest.
Jeff Wise
Jeff Wise grew up dreaming about race cars, he's been a fan his whole life. He's worked minimum wage jobs, raised a good family and currently volunteers his time mentoring middle school kids for the Foster Grandparent Program at VOA. He never thought he would get to experience racing first hand but with some help from the Wish of a Lifetime Foundation, Jeff was able to race around Bandimere speedway all day.
Nancy
We traveled with Nancy to visit her daughter in Arizona who is battling cancer. While the circumstances are unfortunate, we are incredibly excited to have provided an opportunity Nancy otherwise would not have to spend a few precious days with her daughter.
Aleks and Tamila
We recently granted the wish of Aleks and Tamila - Russian immigrants who lost everything they had in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. When asked, they told us they have always dreamed of fishing together. Our foundation recently granted their wish and took them to Keystone to spend the day fishing on a private lake high in the Rocky Mountains.
