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Make-A-Wish founder honors Utah’s record-breaking year
Rob Shelton | Lehi Free Press
Linda Pauling started Make-A-Wish in 1980 with $37.76, trusting God after losing her son, Chris, to leukemia. She said, “Yes, God just took it. Truly do believe this was his purpose.” On May 6 in Utah, she watched Make-A-Wish Utah break a $651,000 fundraising record.
Following this achievement, Make-A-Wish Utah shared the milestone at the seventh annual Drive for Wishes, presented by Strong Auto Group. It was the campaign’s biggest year, and the money will fund wishes for 100 Utah children currently waiting.
“This cannot not happen,” Pauling told the crowd, repeating a phrase she’s leaned on since the beginning.
Here’s how the campaign worked: Strong Auto Group donated three vehicles for a month, each wrapped in sponsor logos and driven statewide to Make-A-Wish events and community stops. Drivers filmed “Wish Cab” videos, a Make-A-Wish spin on “Cash Cab,” featuring sponsors and board members in the cars, answering trivia questions. Each wrong answer cost $1,000, paid directly to Make-A-Wish Utah.
One wrapped car seven years ago has grown into a three-car fleet that has raised over $2 million for Utah Wish Kids, says CEO Daniel Dudley.
“We try to be very business oriented,” Dudley said. “The better we run our organization, the more children we can impact.”
However, the heart of the morning belonged to Pauling.
She told how her son Chris, as a young boy with leukemia, dreamed of being a police officer. Arizona’s Department of Public Safety made it possible. The director gathered his officers and said, “Gentlemen, this cannot not happen.” They gave Chris a real uniform, swore him in as the state’s first honorary highway patrolman, and flew him over the mountains in a police helicopter.
Chris died three days later.
“The officers, and I got together, five of us,” Pauling said. “And you know what we said? There’s more kids. Let’s find them.”
That was 1980. Since then, Make-A-Wish has expanded to operate in 50 countries, with 60 chapters across the U.S., and has granted more than 680,000 wishes worldwide.
Building on this legacy, Chief Development Officer Summer Ehrmann said this year’s record was made possible by 52 sponsors and a four-person development team — Garrett Gallegos, Stephanie McAllister, Mae Caine and Skye Smith.
“This is going to bring the joy of a wish to 100 wish kids that are waiting for a wish today,” Ehrmann said.
The morning closed with a wish reveal. Wish kid Jed, the day’s guest of honor, walked in through a tunnel of cheering supporters after finishing a scavenger hunt outside. The middle-schooler, who attends a military academy, wished to fly to Anchorage, Alaska, where his brother is stationed. Jed’s specific wish is not only to visit his brother, whom he misses, but also to experience riding in military vehicles during his stay.
Pauling read the proclamation.
“We hereby announce that Jed’s wish to go to Anchorage Alaska will be granted,” she said.
Jed’s mother said the wish gave her son something to hold onto.
“It gave Jed hope that at the end of his journey he could do something fun,” she said. “He could do something that he wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.”
A common misconception, Dudley said, is that wishes only go to children with terminal illnesses; less than 30% of recipients fit that description. Most are referred by their medical teams as part of treatment.
Pauling declined a paid role at Make-A-Wish decades ago and continues to maintain a demanding travel schedule as a volunteer. The numbers still surprise her.
“I always return to the biblical verse: store your treasures in heaven. That’s what I do—give it to God, let Him distribute it. By His grace, Make-A-Wish has grown to what it is today,” she said.
As the morning drew to a close, Pauling came back to the same line she’s used for 46 years.
“Let’s go find them,” she said. “Let’s go.”
