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by Bob Waite
There’s that one thing you always wanted to do but never got around to it, and now you do not have the resources to do it. Maybe it’s not something you want to do; maybe it’s something that will make life better for you, but again, it is out of reach. Or perhaps you always dreamt of meeting someone who did something you wanted to learn about but never got the introduction and you haven’t a clue as to how you would locate that person and arrange a meeting. Or maybe it is something as simple as going to zoo, but you are living on Social Security in a nursing home and your family rarely comes to visit you, let alone take you to the zoo.
Our seniors all contributed in some way to making our lives better. Their lives have made a difference in the world, but they are often isolated and feel unwanted, unappreciated and not cared about by younger generations. In assisted living facilities, nursing homes, senior apartment buildings, they are separated from other generations and often give up their wishes, needs and dreams. This sense of being forgotten was poignantly brought to the attention to Cass Forkin who, one day while eating lunch at the Dublin Diner saw three senior women pulling together change to pay for an inexpensive lunch.
Cass wrote about this, saying “I decided I would treat them anonymously. I gave the waitress a $20 bill. When they asked, the waitress pointed to me. They came over and asked me to stand. I got a great big hug and one senior said, ‘We didn’t know there were people like you anymore.’ That comment hit me in a big way. I know lots of folks like me. Why didn’t seniors know younger people cared?”
Cass had already thought about seniors a couple years before the incident in the restaurant when her job had her visiting “about two dozen eldercare facilities.” She writes, “Finally, one day, as I sat in an empty lobby, I realized what was missing…it was hope. 60% of seniors were not even getting visitors, let alone having their hopes honored or wishes granted and dreams coming true. Now that they finally have the time, they don’t have the ability to make anything happen for themselves. How could I change that?” It was with those thoughts percolating in her soul when after paying for the three senior women’s mealsthat she thought about creating a foundation.
What if seniors living in nursing homes or on their own could have younger people thank them for the contributions they made to their country, community and family by granting these unfulfilled wishes and thereby adding hope to their twilight years? As a result of Cass Forkin’s meditation on her experiences, in 2003 the Twilight Wish Foundation was born.
Adorning the walls of the Twilight Wish Foundation’s administrative office in Jamison, PA are photos of seniors having their wishes fulfilled. The part time staff includes the financial/ office manager Donna DeQuila, the director of wish fulfillment Michelle Bowren and Mary Farrell, the director of community relations.
The Twilight Wish Foundation, which began in Doylestown in 2003, now has chapters throughout Pennsylvania and in New York, Indiana, Alabama, Arizona and California. Mary Farrell, Twilight’s Director of Community Relations, says that although wishes are received through individual chapters and from the website, Twilight Wish grants the wishes of seniors living all over the country.
Wishes that have been granted have included such things as meeting celebrities, having a miniature horse visit, going to the zoo, driving a truck and even painting a mural. The Foundation grants between 180 and 200 wishes per year. Now during the pandemic, Twilight Wish has been concentrating mainly on essentials, like furniture, clothing, blankets, hearing aids, dental treatments and even socks for veterans in a veteran’s hospital located in Coatesville, PA.
Behind the scenes are volunteers who help arrange the wishes. Volunteers are of inestimable worth to TwilightWis, according to Michelle Bowren. As director of wish management, her job is to see that wishes are fulfilled, sometimes making connections to get discounts on something needed, like a hearing aid, and then finding the money to pay the difference.
Working for Twilight Wish is a labor of love. Mary Farrell picked up a brochure about the organization at the Doylestown Arts Festival and started volunteering. Now as the director of community relations, she handles public relations, social media, and grant writing.
Nominations for seniors’ wishes can be made on the Twilight Wish’s website: www.twilightwish.org. Many nominations come from social workers and activity workers in nursing homes and other senior facilities, but anyone can nominate themselves or others by filling out the forms on the website. To qualify for a wish the person nominated must be 65 years plus or be a permanent member of an eldercare facility. The nominee must be a U.S. citizen and have an income no more than 200% of the poverty level (approximately $25,000). The senior also needs to have a record of giving back to others through service to our nation, community or their family, and they have to be physically and mentally able to experience the wish.
Another program that Twilight Wish provides is paying for meals at restaurants when seeing seniors dining. The Twilight Wish Foundation provides cards that can state, “You have just been treated to a Dining Unexpected Thank You (DUTY). The DUTY cards may be given anonymously or there is an area on the back of the card to write the giver’s name. To get DUTY cards visit www.twilightwish.org/duty-program.
For more information on how you can volunteer, donate or nominate a senior for a wish, visit www.twilightwish.org. Bob Waite is the editor of Bucks County Magazine.