The Dream Factory gives children, whose days might otherwise may be spent waiting in hospital rooms, a few days of immense joy to lift their hearts. In the holiday spirit, they would like to be able to share these stories here and on a redone website.
Please enjoy the story, and if you are interested in working with them please contact Laura Walitsky at [email protected]
The Dream Factory is a national organization that fulfills dreams for children ages 3 through 18 who have been diagnosed with critical or chronic illnesses. We are a bit different from other dream fulfilling organizations for a couple of reasons. Many groups will only fulfill dreams for children with life threatening or terminal illnesses. At The Dream Factory, we recognize that life threatening or terminal fits into our "critical" category, but it's the chronically ill children -- those with Type I diabetes, spina bifida, hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, heart defects, etc. that are excluded from the other groups. Children with chronic illnesses are required to constantly monitor the daily challenges and routines that often impede upon the spontaneity of being a carefree child. Their lives are frequently quite different from their peers. When a child with Type l diabetes should be running and playing with their friends, they're checking their blood sugar levels. Instead of a child with hemophilia participating in after school sports activities, they're getting IV infusions and hoping not to get any skinned knees or simple bruises. Instead of having a sleepover with friends, a child with cystic fibrosis may have to spend a week or two in the hospital getting tests and surgeries and medicine. Instead of playing football with their friends, the children with heart conditions can only sit on the sidelines and watch. They are experiencing a life that no child deserves. The Dream Factory seeks to reward the strength and courage which these children possess by showing them that dreams can come true.
The Dream Factory of Rochester was established in 1998 and has fulfilled nearly 145 dreams. In just the past few months, we have taken a teenager with a rare disorder to the mall shopping for video games; we have given two children hot tubs, and sent 6 children to Central Florida. One young lady went to Hollywood to see the sites before returning home for open heart surgery. Two boys went to animation studios in CA to see how their favorite cartoons are created. One young man with cystic fibrosis went on a cruise; and one young lady met Joe Jonas while another met Greyson Chance. On the day before Thanksgiving, an 8 year old boy with a heart condition called pericarditis was handed a puppy.
Currently, The Dream Factory of Rochester is working to fulfill dreams for 6 more children -- Zoe, who lives with cystic fibrosis, wants to meet her favorite surfing professional. Her brother, Cole, also living with the disease, has asked for a pool. Another set of siblings with Type I diabetes has asked if they can go on a cruise in the spring and the other two are planning their trips to Orlando, Florida and visits to the most popular area attractions.
The Dream Factory achieves our mission with a lot of volunteer help. The 38 chapters of the organization are all completely run by volunteers. Our National Headquarters in Louisville, KY has just 4 paid employees. As a direct result of our extremely low administrative costs, a majority of the funds raised are used for their intended purpose - to fulfill the dreams of the seriously ill children in our communities.
The Dream Factory chapters each raise their funds locally to spend on local children. We rely upon individual donations, corporate dream sponsorships, and the fundraising efforts of schools and community organizations to make these dreams come true. We consider ourselves a grassroots organization because all of our support comes from volunteerism. We ask for help, search for the best, and we don't have high paid executives micromanaging our local efforts.
The Dream Factory of Rochester has joined Grassroots.org because we want to have a strong online presence. Our website is in need of an overhaul. We have so many wonderful photos, videos and stories to share of the children whose dreams have been fulfilled. We want to share the children’s stories; we want to share The Dream Factory's story, and we want to do it in the grassroots, yet professional manner that we do everything else.
Our National Headquarters is also looking for a website overhaul as well as people who can help us with public relations and marketing. We are not as well known as some other dream fulfilling organizations, but we want to become a household name. We want volunteers to think of our organization. We want corporations to know how far their donations to our organization can stretch. And, we want families to see our website, see our logo and think of us when their child needs a dream to come true.
The Dream Factory once was jokingly described as “the whipped cream on a poop sundae -- Something good on top of all the bad.” What would you do if you had the opportunity to make a child's dream come true?
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