For those of us who have had breast cancer, the ability to age is a gift. Aging with dignity should be everyone’s right, but as we all know, as we age life’s circumstances all too frequently create financial hardships many of us never anticipated. Thank goodness for Cass Forkin, because of her compassion and insight, seniors who previously would have had little to look forward to, are being given a “Twilight Wish.”

Twilight Wish was founded by Cass in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 2003 after a life-changing encounter with several elderly women in a diner the previous year. It was clear to Forkin, as the women were counting out their change, they could barely afford even a simple buffet lunch in a diner, so she anonymously paid their bill. The women insisted on knowing who treated them and approached Forkin’s table saying “We didn’t know there were still people out there like you. We thought you had forgotten us.”  Their gratitude for her simple gesture inspired Cass to found Twilight Wish Foundation. Forkin filed the paperwork for TWF to become a nonprofit and a 501(c)(3) on July 1, 2003, making it the first national wish-granting organization for the elderly in our country.

The Foundation’s mission is to honor and enrich the lives of deserving seniors through wish granting celebrations that connect generations.

Their vision is to make the world a nicer place to age, one wish at a time.

The very first wish granted was on January 16, 2004 to an 81 year-old nursing home resident named Margaret who wished to have a tombstone for her deceased son who was buried in an unmarked grave. Since that first wish, Twilight Wish Foundation has granted over 1,680 wishes and celebrated another 1,000+ seniors in group celebrations. On average, they grant about one wish a day.

Twilight Wish enhances the quality of life for vulnerable, low-income elderly by granting needed or desired wishes that reduce isolation and inspire and uplift them, promoting improved mental health and overall well-being. By treating the elderly with compassion, they help restore their dignity and bring them hope.

In the words of a wish recipient, Libby M., 79, who rode in Boscov’s 2006 Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia, “Twilight Wish keeps the candle lit.”

Twilight Wish Foundation gives seniors an unexpected “thank you” for the contributions they have made throughout their lives. Wishes are granted for elderly over the age of 68 with an income of less than 200% of the national poverty level, (for 2013 the figure is $22,980 for a single person household) with the physical and cognitive ability to experience the wish, and a documented history of positive contributions to society. Those living in nursing homes are also given consideration.

The Twilight Wish stories garner approximately $250,000 in free media attention every year, which helps to spread awareness of their mission and vision. Their stories have led to additional small local nonprofits forming to grant wishes to their local seniors across the country, thereby fulfilling their vision of making our world a nicer place to age, one wish at a time.

An example of some of the types of wishes granted includes:

Simple Needs Wishes:

• Food
• Clothing
• Tombstones
• Televisions
• Stoves
• Air conditioners/Heaters
• Wheelchairs
• Mattresses
• Hearing aids
• Dentures
• Lift chairs
• Visual Aids

• Visits to hometowns
• Family reunions
• Visits to places of comfort and joy

• Fun
• Visits to hometowns
• Family reunions
• Visits to places of comfort and joy
• Fun and lifelong wishes such as ride on a motorcycle sidecar
• Ride in a blimp
• Be a star in a parade float
• Publish a book
• Meeting a celebrity
• Going to a baseball game
• Dancing on Broadway
• Traveling somewhere special
• Fly in a fighter jet

One-third of all wishes granted are for veterans. Veterans’ wishes can fall into any of the other three programs, but we differentiate for this program as it gives us all an opportunity to thank veterans, many in nursing homes, for what they specifically have done for others over the years and acknowledge that we remember and care.

For anyone interested in obtaining more information about this wonderful organization, you can visit their website at: http://www.twilightwish.org/.

If you are interested in seeing if there is a chapter in your area, simply click this link for a map of locations: http://www.twilightwish.org/chapter-locations/.