Magical day gives kids ‘reason to smile’
Let kids be kids. At least once.
That’s the message behind Dreams Take Flight, an Air Canada charity that took 150 deserving children from Alberta to Disneyland on Wednesday.
“These children are not the typical kind of Make-a-Wish children,” said Jan Caveny, vice-president of Dreams Take Flight Calgary.
“(Some of ) these are kids that lost their homes in Fort McMurray; we have one child that’s already moved foster homes three times since October. These kids are the ones that are falling through the cracks.”
Charities and agencies nominate children they feel deserve the trip.
Some of the criteria are that they have never been to a theme park before and could never afford to visit one in their current situation.
Caveny welled up while explaining some of the difficult situations the kids face.
“We just want to give them a reason to smile and to show them that there’s something else out there other than the hardships that they face every day.” The gesture is appreciated. “Thanks so much for doing this,” said Megan Mortensen, a 12-yearold sitting in first-class on the flight to Los Angeles. “It means a lot. Thank you.” Charlee Geyer, another 12-yearold in first-class, agreed. “It’s like a dream,” she said. “We didn’t know it was going to happen, so then when we found out, it was like a miracle.”
Katana Dustyhorn said emotions were strong in her house when she found out she and her sister Ava were going.
“My mom started to cry, and me and my sister started jumping up and down screaming.”
An Air Canada Boeing 767 with a volunteer crew left Calgary at 6:30 a.m. and was expected to return that same night around midnight.
Almost 200 volunteers made it possible. It was the 24th year for the flight.