Connecting Families With Wishes
The Rainbow Connection has been changing lives one wish at a time since 1985.
By Nick Lico
In 2001, at the age of five, Breanna Renaud was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer. The following year, Rochester-based The Rainbow Connection granted Breanna’s wish to visit Disney World in Florida.
The Rainbow Connection was started by the late Brooks Patterson in 1985 and the first wish it granted was Muhammad Ali meeting a child and shadow-boxing with him at Children’s Hospital in Detroit. Today, the charitable organization grants 150-160 wishes per year and it recently celebrated granting its 4,000th wish.
“I was Breanna’s wish coordinator and her wish was to travel to Disney World and go on all the rides. Thanks to all of the organizations and individuals who support The Rainbow Connection, we were able to make her wish come true,” said Ingrid Todt, the organization’s executive director.
Fast forward to April 2020 and Breanna (now Mckernan) has triplets, three boys: Dominic, David and Derek. They reside in Harrison Township.
“Derek is healthy. David and Dominic are considered identical twins. Dominic has bicuspid aortic valve. It’s an aortic valve that has two flaps instead of three. David has three heart defects and the main one required a series of heart surgeries. Due to the other defects, it was safer for David to get a heart transplant,” Mckernan said. The transplant took place on June 22, 2021 at Children’s Hospital.
“Breanna referred David to us when he was four months old. While we granted him a mini wish (a photo shoot) in September 2020, we’re still in the process of granting his main wish, which is to also visit Disney World,” Todt said.
“With David being only two, it makes sense to wait a while,” Mckernan explained. “The Rainbow Connection has been awesome. I love them. They don’t just grant wishes, they do a lot of other things.”
In addition to granting wishes to children with life-threatening conditions, The Rainbow Connection offers an Enhancement Program. It’s designed to provide fun opportunities for wish children and their families. Activities include tickets to concerts, sporting events, the theater and the circus. As Todt explained, these special events are supported by donations from individuals and corporations and area entertainment centers.
The organization also offers a scholarship program and Special Response and Connection Program, which is designed to address unexpected and unplanned financial expenses.
“I grew up knowing Ingrid and now she’s in charge of my child’s case. Any time I have a question, I know I can ask her and if she doesn’t have an answer she will find someone who does,” Mckernan added.
If you wish to help The Rainbow Connection make more wishes come true, there are many ways to do so.
“We’re always looking for volunteers and monthly donors. Individuals can host fundraising events and you can connect your Amazon Smiles, Kroger Rewards, Target Circle and Walgreen Rewards to The Rainbow Connection. These don’t cost the consumer anything and can result in significant contributions to our organization. For example, we recently received nearly $10,000 from Target,” Todt said.
There are also multiple ways for corporations to donate and get involved. Two upcoming events include Detroit Uncorked, a food- and wine-tasting event on September 23 at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica. Tickets are $125 per person.
On November 20, The Rainbow Connection will host a Celebration of Dreams event at Palazzo Grande in Shelby Township. It will include 10 child models, modeling clothing from Walmart. Tickets are $75 per person.
For more information, please visit rainbowconnection.org.
