Committed to caring in CAF: Airman and family grants wishes to ill children through Make-A-Wish Foundation

Published Nov. 8, 2011
By Master Sgt. Sabrina D. Foster
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Long before Air Mobility Command implemented the Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture, one Airman was already committed to taking care of ill children in his community and beyond.

Senior Master Sgt. Victor Dorsey, from Headquarters Air Mobility Command here, has been a wish-granter with the Make-A-Wish Foundation for more than 10 years.

"It all started when I was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, back in 2001," said Dorsey, superintendent of standardization, programs and resources, Air Transportation Division at AMC. "I was originally looking for a community service project for my Masonic lodge to get involved in, and it just kind of went from there."

Dorsey's wife Brita, a contracting specialist at U.S. Transportation Command, has also been involved with the foundation as a wish-granter for the past 10 years. They occasionally enlist help from their children, who have accompanied them on trips to children's hospitals during holidays and also made appearances as the Easter bunny.

Once a child is selected to have a wish granted, the Dorsey's meet with the child and the family to sort out the wish and any issues associated with it.

"We talk to the child and ask them if they could have one wish, what it would be," Dorsey said. "It can be a little challenging when you're asking this of a three-year-old, but we have ways of talking to them and finding out what that wish is. Usually, wishes are limited only by a child's imagination."

After the child has decided on a wish, it could take anywhere from six to nine months for it to be granted, so in the meantime the Dorseys have to fulfill any needs the family may have up until the wish is granted.

"We have to make sure the family has everything they need to carry out the wish," said Dorsey. "We just sent a family on a Disney Cruise recently and we had to shop for luggage before they left."

The Dorseys don't volunteer as wish-granters for their own personal recognition, but because they enjoy bringing joy to a sick child.

"Putting a smile on a child's face by granting their wish means a lot. It gives them hope," said Dorsey. "The reaction from them is indescribable. It is a great feeling when I see a child light up.

"Bringing happiness to a child and giving them a reason to believe is what I enjoy most," added Brita.

In order to keep your status as a wish-granter, you must grant at least three wishes per year. The Dorseys granted 12 wishes last year and estimates they have granted about 40 wishes in the past 10 years.

The Dorseys are currently working on three wishes which include a Disney cruise, Hawaii trip and a shopping spree, and they have two children yet to be interviewed. Granting wishes comes second nature for the Dorsey's, but little did they know the type of sick children they deal with was really about to hit home for them.

The Dorseys granted a rush wish to a child with cancer in October 2010 that really put things in perspective for them.

"We couldn't imagine what the mother of that child was going through," said Dorsey. "I just kept thinking how a parent deals with something like that."

Two weeks later the Dorseys found out their son Dominic, 18 at the time, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"We were not prepared to hear the news," said Dorsey, "but it put everything in perspective and shed a different light on why we do the things we do.

"Dominic has completed chemotherapy and radiation, and is doing a lot better. It has not been easy, but we're taking it one day at a time."

Dorsey said all of the wishes he has granted are special to him, but one sticks out in particular. Dorsey recently granted a wish involving a room makeover, in which he was engaged with from the beginning to the end.

"We stripped it down, painted it, put up new curtains and blinds and furnished it all in one day. To see the look on the child's face made it all worth it," Dorsey said.

The Dorseys are wish-granters for the state of Illinois, but sometimes he extends his hand to help fulfill wishes from other states. He recently escorted a Georgia child and her family to meet a television show Celebrity in Illinois.

"Sometimes we have to step in and help out a family from another state if the wish is being granted in our area," said Dorsey. "The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a nationwide network, so we help out where we are needed. The most important thing is making sure the child's wish is granted."

Of all the volunteer organizations to become involved with, Dorsey chose the Make-A-Wish Foundation because he enjoys giving back.

"We've been blessed, it's not a blessing if you can't share or give anything back to anyone else," said Dorsey. "In the military we go off to war and fight, but they [kids] are warriors also. These kids are fighting for their lives."

In May, the Dorseys were named Make-A-Wish Foundation volunteers of the month for Illinois.

According to an AMC talking paper on the Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture, "community" is in the basis of the CAF culture vision. "Our vision is a community of balanced, healthy, self-confident Airmen and families whose resilience and total fitness enables them to thrive in an era of high operations tempo and persistent conflict," the CAF vision statement shows.

To learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit the Web site at http://www.wish.org. To learn more about the Comprehensive Airman Fitness program, visit the Web site at http://www.amc.af.mil/caf/index.asp

(Note: This is the 17th in series of 24 stories for 2011 by Air Mobility Command Public Affairs highlighting the Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture through a "commitment of caring." Comprehensive Airman Fitness, or CAF, is built on "four pillars" of fitness -- physical, social, mental and spiritual fitness -- and five "Cs" -- caring, committing, communicating, connecting and celebrating. "Comprehensive Airman Fitness reflects our commitment to developing a holistic approach to caring for our people that equips, enables and empowers everyone to grow more physically, socially, mentally and spiritually fit," Gen. Raymond E. Johns, Jr., AMC commander said in June 2010 while addressing CAF to AMC wing commanders. "It's not another program, but rather, a means to enhance mission effectiveness by intentionally investing in one another.")