Wishing Star workers’ goal to put smiles on faces

“To see these little children and what they go through, it just keeps me going,” Wishing Star volunteer Betty Nelson says.

“One 6-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis wanted to be nurse Jennifer,” says Nelson. “She knew what every medical instrument was by name and how it was used.”

Nelson, a Coeur d’Alene resident for 50 years and an area real estate agent for the last 20 years, is a devoted volunteer and president of the Coeur d’Alene Chapter of the Wishing Star Foundation.

Wishing Star has granted more than 900 wishes in the last 21 years to children ages 3 to 21 in Eastern Washington and Idaho who have a life-threatening or potentially life-shortening illness.

As a fourth-grade teacher in Wisconsin, Wishing Star founder Karen Kurowski, noticed a little boy who every morning came to school early to get extra help with reading.

As Kurowksi began to see the little boy less and less, she soon learned that he had terminal brain cancer.

Kurowski moved to Idaho and started her own family but it did not erase the memory of that little boy in Wisconsin.

“Without warning, I could see the little boy’s face, and it reminded me of the feelings of helplessness of what could have been done to add some special quality to his life,” Kurowski says.

Kurowski quit teaching in 1983 and began the Wishing Star Foundation in the basement of her Coeur d’Alene home to grant wishes to terminally ill children. Her husband, Ed, a science teacher, was co-founder.

Wishing Star is a 501(c)3 charitable organization and is not funded by the government or United Way. All of the funds for wishes are raised through private donations, special events and the Share-A-Wish program, as well as corporate and foundation grants.

The Share-A-Wish program provides an opportunity for businesses, groups or individuals to adopt or share the wish of a child. When they agree to Share-A-Wish, they pay for all or a portion of the costs of the wish, and 100 percent of the money goes directly to the cause.

“Special events help tremendously with the cost of granting wishes,” Nelson says.

One of the special events coordinated by the Coeur d’Alene Chapter is the annual Celebrity Chef BBQ Contest that Nelson volunteers to coordinate.

“The first year, the barbecue was held Sept. 12, the day after 9/11,” Nelson says. “Much to our surprise we raised $2,500 and had 250 attendees.”

This year’s event raised $18,500 and had more than 400 people attend.

“Our goal is to put smiles on the faces of our Wish Kids and their families,” says Danelle Reagan, Coeur d’Alene resident, trustee and chairman of the Wishing Star board headquartered in Spokane.

“The reward of this work is the excitement of the kids and their families who for a little while have a fun break in daily routine of hospital life,” Reagan says.

Nelson is an active Coeur d’Alene community volunteer who was a Chamber Commodore for 18 years, a board member for the North Idaho Building Contractors Women’s Council, a member of St. Pius Catholic Church Parish Council, and yet still manages to find time to play tennis three to four times a week.

“Betty is a strong community advocate for Wishing Star,” says Reagan. “She is a spark who energizes the people around her.”

What is the magic of a wish?

“Wishes are powerful medicine,” Nelson says. “Eighty percent of our Wish Kids are still with us!”