May 26, 2007 By Jackie Beranek 3 min read

DUNBAR TWP. – Ten-year-old Glenn “Dakota” Budd of Connellsville was all smiles Friday as he shopped at the Dunbar Wal-Mart, where he went on a shopping spree thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and Southern West Virginia. As the white stretch limousine pulled up outside Wal-Mart store with Dakota and his family, Jack Yard, Wal-Mart manager, and Jane Croftcheck, community involvement coordinator, along with a number of other Wal-Mart associates greeted the Connellsville residents.

A “Welcome Dakota” sign greeted the shy Dunbar Township fourth-grader along with balloons and thunderous applause.

After Dakota selected more than $2,000 in gifts, he and his family had an early lunch at Subway (inside the store) and enjoyed cake and ice cream with Wal-Mart associates in the employee lunchroom.

Yard said this is the second time that his store has participated in the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s program.

“What an outstanding program Make-A-Wish is,” commented Yard. “This is something that Jane brought to our store and our associates look forward to gathering around because they take a lot of pride in the program.”

Yard said just to see the smile on Dakota’s face was “priceless.” He additionally said anything Wal-Mart can do to make a wish come true for a child is worth it.

Dakota’s mother, Amy Corvin, said her son has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy with complications, that’s why he received the wish for a shopping spree from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Dakota and his little brother, Joshua Corvin, stocked up on items such as video games; a computer and printer; a 24-inch television set with a DVD and VCR combo; storage bunk beds; a trampoline; a doggie bed for his dog, Baby; a swing; and tools for his father, Glenn Budd, to put everything together.

Todd Trozzo, who is with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, said the most common misconception about the Make-A-Wish Foundation is that they only provide wishes for dying children.

“On the contrary, the foundation believes that a wish is an experience that fills children and their families with a feeling of hope and invigorates them with a joy for living,” he said.

Nearly 80 percent of the wish children are still living, according to Trozzo.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and Southwestern West Virginia is a non-profit organization, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy, according to Trozzo.

He said Make-A-Wish was founded in 1983 and serves 57 counties in western, central and northeastern Pennsylvania and 23 counties in southern West Virginia with headquarters in Pittsburgh and several regional offices in Pennsylvania and Charleston, W.Va.

Last year, the foundation fulfilled 706 wishes with the help of nearly 900 volunteers. Trozzo said 85.4 percent of all donations fund wish-granting activity.

“Currently, the foundation is the most active chapter in the country and has fulfilled more than 9,000 wishes,” said Make-A-Wish spokeswoman Dana Antkowiak.

For more information, call 1-800-676-WISH or visit the web site at www.wishgreaterpa.org.