Six-year-old Dahlia, of Guelph, is going to see her wish come true with a dream bedroom makeover, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southwestern Ontario and Ikea Etobicoke.
The organizations joined forces on Feb 20 and 21 to create a room any girl would love. Dahlia’s wish will be the 800th granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southwestern Ontario since its inception in 1986.
Dahlia’s favourite colour is pink, her favourite princess is Sleeping Beauty, and her favourite movie is My Little Pony. She loves reading My Little Pet shop books, and eating pasta and popcorn.
When she wished for her special bedroom makeover, she specifically requested bunk beds because she loves sharing a room with her older sister, Rebecca.
The foundation launched a new partnership with Ikea Canada in September. Ikea stores and their 4,500 co-workers will help the foundation grant room makeover wishes to children across Canada living with life-threatening medical conditions. Each store will donate in-kind Ikea product to the foundation to create room makeovers in each of the markets Ikea Canada operates
The stores co-workers will offer inspirational home furnishing expertise to create the magical room makeovers.
The funding will also be used to purchase product enhancements for those children whose wishes fall outside of a room makeover, but require furniture.
Dahlia’s wish will take place at her home, 29 Warren Street in Guelph. Volunteers from the store, along with Dahlia’s volunteer wish grantor, Mary Schnurr, helped assemble and install the new furnishings for Dahlia’s bedroom. The new room was revealed to Dahlia and her family at approximately 5pm on Feb. 21.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southwestern Ontario grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. It serves children in 15 counties in Southwestern Ontario, including Wellington County.
In 2010, the foundation has already granted eight children’s wishes and has 76 wishes in progress, and an additional 31 families are seeking approval from their child’s physician to begin the wish process.
To learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southwestern Ontario, visit www.swo.makeawish.ca.
