‘Frozen’ and Florida await Benton Make-A-Wish family

A weeklong trip to Orlando that starts with a red-carpet sendoff is great and all, but what really gets mom and dad smiling is the idea of next Valentine’s Day. Feb. 14, also Jeff Woolsey’s birthday, is the last planned treatment for their daughter’s Lymphoid Leukemia.

“That will be the biggest birthday gift, the best ever,” Woolsey said, nuzzling Alayna, who clung to him in the face of cameras and friendly airline personnel on Sunday afternoon before their Make-A-Wish trip. The five-year-old girl has been in treatment since December 2013 and is in remission.

Alayna and her family — dad and mom, Jackie Woolsey, and big brother Jaxon Murphy — are heading to Disney World courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Allegiant Airlines, with a sendoff party with gifts from Impact Strategies of Fairview Heights. They will stay at Give Kids The World resort and expect to spend time at Disney World as well as the Atlantic Ocean, where Jaxon might get to see sharks.

The biggest smiles from the kids during their sendoff came from instantly recognizable gifts — candy. The DVD portable player needed a little explanation, but it comes with two headsets “so your brother can listen, too” said the airport’s Lisa Schuetz, handing Alayna DVDs including “Tangled”, another popular Disney movie.

“I think Jaxon might be a little sick” of “Frozen”, a popular Disney movie, Jackie said. Jaxon, 9, said with all brotherly love that his sister could be “a little mean” but the rising fourth-grader still reads books to her.

“She doesn’t like the shark books” that he prefers, Jaxon said, so he reads Dr. Seuss books, princess books and “Pete the Cat” to Alayna.

Jackie said Alayna will attend kindergarten this fall, and has sporadically been able to attend prekindergarten.

The sendoff the Woolsey family received was not a typical one, said Laura Cannavo Huerta, a spokesperson for Make-A-Wish Illinois.

“On occasion companies will (become a partner) and host sendoff parties,” she said. In this case, Impact Strategies, a commercial construction firm since 2002 in Fairview Heights, paid for the red carpet, balloons, lunch and “Frozen” inspired gifts as well as tote bags packed with candy and goodies for the flight.

Mark Hinrichs, president of Impact Strategies, said his company had helped with the MidAmerica expansion, and he and Tim Cantwell, airport director, have kept in touch.

“When the airport director reached out — it was a quick jump to the opportunity” to sponsor the going-away party, Hinrichs said.

Huerta said the foundation pays for the entire cost of a trip for families whose children have a life-threatening illness. Make-A-Wish sends wish-granting volunteers to help children figure out which for “four wish types” they have: Go anywhere, have anything, be anything, meet anyone. Alayna chose the travel trip to Disney, although her parents said a Dude Ranch trip was a close second until she found out more about it.

The family has eight horses so she’s familiar with the cleanup involved, they said.

Make-A-Wish pays for “everything”, Huerta says, and takes care of all arrangements so the families can fully relax.

“We’ve tried to take the family out of the situation and just let them be a family,” Huerta said.

The organization subsists on donations and events to raise money.

The Benton family was picked up by a limo Sunday morning, but were behind an accident and then construction on the drive to the Mascoutah airport. About three dozen of their fellow plane travelers had checked in and gone ahead to the gate by the time they arrived, which meant Alayna and Jaxon could open presents and take pictures with airport personnel with a smaller audience. After a week of Florida, they’ll return home by plane and limo, Huerta said.

Make-A-Wish contacted the family through Cardinal Glennon hospital in St. Louis, Jackie said, and the wish-granting has been in the works since about March, Jackie said.

“Frozen” and Disney “were the first thing that popped into her mind,” she said.

This story was originally published July 12, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "‘Frozen’ and Florida await Benton Make-A-Wish family."