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Health & Fitness

The Power of A Wish and the Gift of Sharing

Given the chance to go anywhere, meet anyone or have anything through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, 11-year-old cancer patient Jose made a wish to give... to donate a new playground to his school.

When offered the opportunity to wish to go anywhere, meet anyone or have anything,  11-year old Jose Montaño, a student at Berry Elementary School who is battling cancer, made a wish to give... he wanted to donate new playground equipment to his school. This remarkable young boy’s wish came true earlier today, when the new playground was revealed in a very special dedication ceremony. 

Jose lives in Nestor with his parents and five siblings. In 2011, he was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer, and was referred to the Make-A-Wish, a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. When his volunteer wish granters met with him and explained that he could choose anything for himself, Jose told them that he wanted a new playground for his school for all the kids to enjoy.

Make-A-Wish engaged the help of local vendors to make Jose’s wish possible. Balfour Beatty Construction and its network of vendors, contractors and consultants donated all of the supplies and labor for the concrete base and curb for the structure, as well as project management services; Dave Bang Associates donated a play structure complete with swings, monkey bars, slides and much more. Other vendors, such as ProDek and Zasueta Contracting, provided their products and services at cost. Construction began about a month ago.

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On Thursday, there was lots of misty eyes when wish kid Jose and his family, the students and faculty of Berry Elementary, reps from South Bay Unified School District, sponsors of Jose’s wish, Make-A-Wish staff, supporters and volunteers came together to celebrate the new playground.

The playground was named after Jose – a total surprise to him and his family.

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The power of Jose's wish is what it represents – the power of giving. Here, the amazing young man had the chance to get almost anything for himself through Make-A-Wish, and he chose instead to help others. This selfless act will ensure hundreds of students each year will enjoy this new playground and hopefully think a little bit about the power of giving...something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

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