Happy to pay the price for smiles

GREATER Dandenong businesses have raised $7000 to make sick kids’ wishes come true.
Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce held its annual Grand Final Charity Lunch at Sandhurst Club in Skye on 25 September.
Silent auctions and a live auction – including $2000 in bidding for nothing but a tax deduction – brought in cash for Make-A-Wish.
The event had raised just under $50,000 for in the past five years to help wishes come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Make-A-Wish volunteer Lawrie Leeman said travel wishes were the most popular – usually to Disneyland or the Gold Coast – followed by requests for items like pets and cubbyhouses.
He said kids also regularly wished to meet people, like the Wiggles or footballers, or even to be someone for a day, like a zookeeper or fireman.
Mr Leeman moved lunch guests with the story of Rex, 5, who’d battled leukaemia all his life and wished to be a fireman.
Make-A-Wish made Rex’s wish come true with the help of Queensland Fire and Rescue Services, and Mr Leeman said the beaming smile on his face said it all.