From One Superhero Bike to 790 Dreams: Make-A-Wish Wyoming Turns 40

The original story by Nick Perkins for Oil City News.

It all started with a kid, a brain tumor, and a very specific request: a big, fierce bike that would make him feel like a superhero.

That was 40 years ago. Back then, Make-A-Wish Wyoming wasn’t a statewide institution. It was barely an idea. The group got its nonprofit charter in September 1985, and almost immediately met Brian, a young boy from Gillette facing the kind of diagnosis no child should ever have to hear. Through the fear and hospital visits, he hung onto one bright thing he wanted more than anything: that bike.

The wish came true. And with it, a Wyoming chapter was born.

Since then, Make-A-Wish Wyoming has granted more than 790 wishes, ranging from classic Disneyland pilgrimages to meet-your-hero moments and simple, perfect days built around family and fun. The organization marked its 40th anniversary this month at its annual Stories of Light gala — a celebration that wasn’t just about looking back, but about sending a few more kids forward with something to hope for.

Make-A-Wish CEO Greta Maxfield says the core mission hasn’t changed in four decades, even as the wishes themselves have evolved.

“When a child is diagnosed with such a serious illness, their life just changes,” Maxfield said. “Life becomes about doctors appointments and treatments, and their family is under all of this stress. And when you think about childhood — this is not the magic of childhood. So Make-A-Wish comes in and provides the opportunity for a child to dream and to be a kid and to think about possibility. And to hope.”

That word — hope — sits at the center of everything they do. Not a vague “cheer up” kind of hope, but the kind that gives a kid something to look forward to when the weeks are full of tests, treatments, and exhaustion.

At the recent gala, the room got a reminder of what that hope looks like in real life.

Ezra was diagnosed at one year old with a rare genetic condition that impacts basically every system in his body. Despite that, he’s grown into a kid with tastes — art, culture, great food — and one dream towering above the rest: Paris.

Then there’s Gianna, diagnosed shortly after birth with one of the rarest gastrointestinal disorders out there. When she was sent home from the hospital, her mom was basically told to keep her comfortable. That’s the kind of moment that wrecks a family. Gianna’s wish was clear and beautifully straightforward: go to Disneyworld, and bring everyone she loves with her.

Both wishes were granted at Stories of Light, powered by donations from supporters in Casper and beyond. When the announcements came, Maxfield said you could feel the room change — that special kind of quiet-then-joy that happens when a wish becomes real.

Maxfield was also blunt about the financial reality. Wishes haven’t gotten cheaper. They’ve gotten more expensive.

“We used to say for a long time that the cost of a wish was about $8,000,” she said. “But it’s grown to about $10,000 on average.”

Travel costs rise, accessibility needs rise, sometimes the scope of a wish rises too — because kids want to share it with the people who’ve been through everything with them.

And Make-A-Wish doesn’t want cost to be the reason a child hears “no.”

“We don’t ever want to say ‘no’ to a kid,” Maxfield said. “We don’t want to say ‘You can’t bring your whole family.'”

So Ezra and Gianna will both head off on their dream trips with family right beside them.

Over 40 years, the wish list has shifted with the times. In 1985, it was a superhero bike. Later it might have been a TV, a game room, a chance to meet a sports star. Today it could be virtual reality, TikTok creators, or something nobody was wishing for a decade ago.

But Maxfield says the most important part stays the same: the child decides what matters.

“What has stayed the same,” she said, “is just the power of that individual child saying, ‘This is what’s important to me.'”

That power is why wishes hit so hard. They aren’t generic gifts. They’re personal statements in a moment when a child’s life is being defined by something they didn’t choose.

Even in an anniversary year, Maxfield says the work isn’t finished.

“We want to expand our presence across the state,” she said.

The organization’s data shows there are still kids in Wyoming who qualify for wishes but haven’t been connected to the program yet. The goal now is to find them — in smaller towns, farther counties, places where families might not know the option exists.

Because, in the end, a wish isn’t just a trip or a bike or a day out. It’s a symbol that illness doesn’t get to take over everything. Brian’s family saw that clearly in the first wish, decades ago.

“Later, when he was sicker and was in bed, he still had that bike right next to him,” Maxfield recalled. “It was just so meaningful; such a symbol of hope and community for him.”

Forty years in, that’s still the whole point: giving kids something fierce and bright to hold onto — right when they need it most.