City employees go above and beyond to make special wish come true 

by Emily Canning-Dean 

When 5-year-old Lamar arrived at the Brecksville Service Department in a limo the morning of Nov. 15, he was met by a long line of Brecksville sanitation employees standing by to applaud him. 

“The guys lined up on either side of the drive and then at the end of the drive there was a construction sign they had made especially to welcome him,” said Eileen Lane, executive director of A Special Wish Northeast Ohio. “I think Lamar felt a little shy at first, but then when he got to tour all of the sanitation vehicles – especially when he saw that welded on the side of one of the garbage trucks was his own little handle to hold on to so he could ride on the side of the truck – his eyes lit up.” 

The offices of A Special Wish Northeast Ohio are located in Brecksville and the organization offers support to children under the age of 21 who have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease. 

The organization has been operating in the area for roughly 10 years. 

One of One nonprofit’s many programs is called When I Grow Up, as part of which selected children receive the opportunity to live out their dream jobs for a day. 

Lamar, who comes from a community outside of Brecksville, dreamed of being a sanitary engineer and Lane said she had a feeling the city of Brecksville would be willing to help make that dream come true for a day. 

After a meeting with Mayor Daryl Kingston, Lane was impressed with the enthusiasm city officials were showing. 

“During the meeting with the mayor, he said ‘just tell us what you need to make this happen’ and it just snowballed from there,” Lane said. “The sanitation director quickly got on board and everyone made the event so beautiful and happy.” 

After touring the different sanitation vehicles, Lamar had the opportunity to ride on the side of a garbage truck holding on to the handle specially welded on for him while one of the sanitation employees rode behind him making sure he was safe and secure. 

“He got to ride out to one of the local neighborhoods where people had put out trash bags that he could pick up and put in the truck,” Lane said. “Later, he had the opportunity to ride in the leaf pickup truck and some of the neighbors had left piles of leaves on the curb that he could collect.” 

At the end of the day, Lamar was asked if there was anything he wanted to do again  and requested to ride on the side of the garbage truck one more time. 

A Special Wish Northeast Ohio provided catering from Raising Cane’s for Lamar and his family, as well as the sanitation staff, so they could all enjoy lunch together. 

“Lamar was smiling from ear to ear,” Lane said. “His family got to be there with him. That is the purpose of this program, to create a worry-free day for him and his family so they can just enjoy the day and create memories together.” 

Lane said Make a Wish Northeast Ohio currently serves more than 500 families in the Northeast Ohio area through various programs, ranging from sending kids and their families to Disney World to dropping off food to the families during their time of need. She said the organization has worked with Brecksville in the past, at which time the city offered up the community’s therapy pool as a venue for a private birthday party for a girl who was immuno-compromised and needed a safe environment for her celebration. 

“We are involved with the Brecksville Chamber of Commerce and the Brecksville Kiwanis has also been very supportive of what we do,” she said. “I was just so impressed with the effort the city put in to make Lamar’s wish come true. There were so many people who got involved and there were guys who I think came in on their day off and volunteered their time to make Lamar’s day special. I think it was a very impactful day for him and we were also so grateful for all of the neighbors who participated to make the event possible.” Lane said that anyone who wants to learn more about the work A Special Wish Northeast Ohio does or to find out how to help or donate, can visit aspecialwishneo.org. 

photo caption: The city had a special bar welded to one of their garbage trucks so Lamar could ride on the side of the vehicle. Photo submitted.