SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Make-A-Wish South Dakota & Montana is celebrating 40 years of granting wishes to children with critical illnesses.
In 2020, 10-year-old Jaxon Hotchkin got his wish to feed giraffes at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The Sioux Falls boy was born with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, characterized by a port wine stain and glaucoma in both eyes.
The Sioux Falls boy has a port wine stain, which caused glaucoma in both eyes.
“I’ve always been a lover of giraffes because I thought I looked like one with my spots or dots. And I just felt like giraffe is my favorite animal and it just felt like me,” Hotchkin said.
Hotchkin’s wish is one of nearly 2,000 that the chapter’s granted.
“It’s a significant milestone knowing that 40 years of wishes have come true and that we’re doing more and more wishes each and every year, and we’re looking to find every eligible child and make sure their heartfelt wish comes true,” Make-A-Wish South Dakota & Montana President and CEO Sue Salter said.
The co-founder of Make-A-Wish, Linda Pauling, was in Sioux Falls Monday to celebrate as the chapter held its biggest fundraiser of the year, the annual golf tournament and evening of inspiration.
Pauling’s son Chris was diagnosed with leukemia in 1977 in Arizona.
The little boy wanted to be a police officer.
He got the chance to be an honorary officer before he died at the age of seven in 1980.
After his death, his mother and those who helped grant his wish knew the mission wasn’t over.
“We said, ‘You know what? There’s more kids out there. Let’s go find them,'” Pauling said.
Pauling says Make-A-Wish’s growth since that initial wish is phenomenal.
“It is truly by god’s grace, honestly, that Make-A-wish is what it is today. I give him all of the glory. All of it,” Pauling said.
Those wishes mean a lot to kids like Hotchkin.
“It just makes you feel like you can do anything. It makes you so happy just to see everybody just having fun, not worrying about any other surgeries or anything coming up. Just have fun,” Hotchkin said.
