In the coming weeks, Brandon Eichman of Avila Beach, Danae Ontiveros of Paso Robles and Carlos Ruizsantos of Santa Maria will fly to tropical destinations complements of Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties.


Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

Brandon lives with von Recklinghausen’s disease. His wish presentation party will be at Del’s Pizzeria this Friday, April 3, in Shell Beach. His wish is being adopted by Cal Poly’s Chi Omega. Brandon is 18 and lives in Avila Beach. His wish is to visit Molokini (Maui) to scuba dive off a boat!

Carlos is 8 and if from Santa Maria. He lives with coagulation defects, congenital factor VIII disorder. His wish presentation party will be April 12 at Doc Bernstein’s in Orcutt. His wish is being adopted by Santa Maria Valley Physical Therapy. His wish is to play on the beach in Hawaii.

Danae lives with malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage. Her wish presentation party will be at her home in Paso Robles on April 12. Her wish is being adopted by Cal Poly’s Chi Omega. Danae is 18 and lives in Paso Robles. Her wish is to visit the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

Their wishes, like 63 percent of the wishes granted by Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties, require air travel. Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties needs 8 million miles annually to make wishes come true and less than 2 million are donated each year, making airline tickets the most avoidable but significant expense for the local Make-A-Wish chapter. Donations of miles are essential to getting wish kids to their destination.

During April, Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties will hold its Give Wishes Wings Campaign focusing on the unique and critical need for airline miles.   

Donating miles is as simple as clicking here, choosing from a number of airlines – including Alaska, American, Delta, Jet Blue and United – and entering a few pieces of information. The number of miles an individual can donate ranges from a few hundred miles to millions. Donated miles never expire and are never used for anything other than wish travel for wish kids and their families. Donations can also be made by phone by calling 805.676.9474 x2.

— Shanna Taylor is CEO of Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties.