In The News:

Never Too Late to Wish 
Foundation wants to grant county elders’ requests

by Luann Mason, Columnist

Wishing has no age limits, no boundaries. Sharing a wish with others seems to be the avenue for making a wish come true, too. It's a formula that has worked for several Shelby County residents who know it is never too late in life to wish. 

"Everybody has their dreams," said Carolyn Bogeman, 67, a resident at Waldron Health Care Home. "If you have a wish or dream, make it known to others ... it might come true." Hers did last spring after a group of health-care workers learned through casual conversation with Bogeman that she wanted to fly in a helicopter. She wanted to see all that she missed on an ill-fated day in 2004 when she was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, unconscious with severe injuries, after a car accident. 

The health-care workers went into action to make Bogeman's wish come true. They solicited the help of Bob Haverstick and an army of volunteers affiliated with the Indianapolis-based Never Too Late Foundation. He joined staff members at Waldron Health Care Home and Heritage House Convalescent Center in handling arrangements to grant Bogeman's wish. Never Too Late served as the hub, supporting its mission and vision to make dreams and wishes come true for the elderly. 

By working together, volunteers arranged for Bogeman and her husband Tom, to be whisked from Shelby County in a limousine to a surprise location: the Indianapolis Inter-national Airport. It was there that an anonymous benefactor paid the bill to provide the helicopter ride that fulfilled Bogeman's wish. 

"So many people worked to make it happen," smiled Bogeman, as she relived that memorable day. (The experience) made me feel better about myself, to think somebody would do that for me. I had always done for someone else and always had the means to do for other people but not to have someone do for me." 

Haverstick founded Never Too Late in January 2000 with a simple mission: "To fulfill the wishes of seniors." Repeatedly, as the not-for-profit foundation's executive director, Haverstick has stated that "this program is about taking people who feel invisible and forgotten and showing them we care, just because they are alive and with us. It is not about what they bring to the table or what they can do for us. It is about our remembering them and honoring them for all they have ever done or been all of their long lives. This is a full-circle treatment, honoring their early and middle years, and treating them with grace and dignity in their final years." 

To date, the foundation's volunteers have granted 1,212 wishes made by seniors primarily 65 years of age and older. "Knowing that the actions taken by NTL volunteers (and by the donors of cash, goods and services) touch elder lives in a powerful way, energizes me and keeps me on the wish-making path," Haverstick said. "Each wish story is like a special chapter in someone's journey on this earth. Even the process of fulfilling wishes creates magical memories for family members and caregivers and volunteers." 

They're memories, according to Wanda Hewitt, that carry her from one year to the next. She had her wish granted in June of 2001 to enter her crafts at the Indiana State Fair and see them displayed. The 70-year-old had never entered anything in the State Fair for judging because she didn't know how she would get it there. Yet, it was something she had wanted to do since her first and only visit to the fair while honeymooning after her marriage in 1955 to Waldron resident Jack Hewitt. 

Haverstick was able to get Hewitt and her projects to the fair, however he had nothing to do with the awards she brought home. Every year since then, Hewitt, a victim of multiple sclerosis, prepares needlework items for entry into the county fair that ultimately advances her work on to competition at the state level. 

"I can't wait until the next county fair," she said. "I have two things complete to enter - a centerpiece angel and cardinals made from beads that are wall hangings. I'm working on a tabletop Christmas tree, too." 

Hewitt is thankful Haverstick continues to grant wishes. "He's a wonderful person. It's fantastic all the things he does for you," she said. "It just makes you feel good inside that someone cares." 

NTL foundation wish recipients in addition to Bogeman and Hewitt from Shelby County include: 

• June 2001, Waldron Health Care Home, "Jungle John" Cusson visits residents with numerous exotic pets. Haverstick also organized a catered steak lunch through a local restaurant and a dance for residents. 

• January 2002, group wish at Waldron Health Care Home to have a New Year's Eve party brought in an Elvis Presley impersonator. It has turned into an annual event. 

• September 2002, Waldron resident Betty Stuart, who has coped with Parkinson's disease since 1985, had a collection of original writings published in "Joy's Stories," a book compiled by Joy's House, an adult day care center in Indianapolis. 

• June 2003, Tom Macaluso, was granted his last wish, to visit the Grand Canyon, before leukemia took is life. 

• January 2004, Shelbyville resident Alwilda Harding, who is blind, learned to play the piano. 

• April 2004, Edna Parker, now 113, celebrated her 111th birthday at Heritage House Convalescent Center in grand fashion with dignitaries from her alma mater, Franklin College, recognizing her as the college's oldest living alumna. 

• July 2005, Morristown Nursing Home, 12 wheelchair-bound residents had the opportunity to fly in a hot-air balloon. 

• October 2006, Waldron Health Care Home, imaginary trip to Hawaii with family members, complete with a luau granted to recently deceased resident, Elizabeth Carroll. 

Haverstick's foundation started granting wishes in Shelby County when contacted by Buffy Powers, social service director at Waldron Health Care Center. Powers, he said, wanted to know more about the intent of the foundation. 

"It has been a great lesson in learning about life in general as wishes have come true for those we serve here at WHCH," Powers said. "The families have a great understanding of how they can help grant wishes in a way that provides healing and a lasting memory that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. This can be a chance to make their loved ones feel healthy maybe for a short time, as well as giving them their own memory in their last days." 

At this point in their lives, elders should grab every opportunity to do what they never dreamed they could do, agreed Hewitt, Bogeman and Stuart. 

That same passion is the driving force for steering Haverstick toward granting more wishes. He wants to collect and fulfill more elder wishes in Shelby County, too, a place that Haverstick said is near and dear to his heart. 

"My mother taught at Triton Central for about 10 years; my father was co-owner of the Fairland Recreation Club, and I helped spread the sand (by hand) on that entire beach in the '60s," he revealed. 

To submit a wish request for someone, to volunteer, or make a monetary donation to help make wishes come true, contact the Never Too Late Foundation, either at www.nevertoolate.org or by phone at (317) 823-4705.