(The following article is reprinted from the Northwest Herald. Operation Compassion and the Appalachia Dream Center are proud to be a part of Marisa’s wish. Michael Hartwell, ADC Director, is making preparations for Marisa and her family to arrive in July and spend several days working in the community.)
By JIM BUTTS – jbutts@nwherald.com
CRYSTAL LAKE – What would you ask for if you were 10 years old and had one wish? A trip to Disney World? A chance to meet a celebrity hero?
Not Marisa Monbrod.
This little girl, who has leukemia in remission, wants to use her wish to help others.
As part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Marisa has asked to become something of a mini-missionary for a week. She and her Crystal Lake family plan to pack up a rented RV in July and journey to the Appalachian region of West Virginia, where they will share supplies and their faith with those less fortunate.
“I want to help people,” Marisa said. “They don’t get all the stuff that people get around here.”
The folks from Make-a-Wish are hoping the community will help the young fourth-grade student by providing supplies to be given out on the trip.
Marisa personally made a list of things she’d like to bring along, including items such as toys and books to share with other children.
When she first learned that she would have a wish, Marisa considered other options. She dreamed of staying at a castle in Ireland or heading to the ocean to swim with dolphins.
Then she watched a film about Dr. Paul Carlson, a medical missionary who traveled to Africa in the early 1960s, at her church, Hope Covenant Church in Crystal Lake.
Young Marisa was inspired.
“I decided I liked this better because I don’t really need anything really bad and those people really do,” she said. “I figured this was nicer.”
She also was influenced by a project in her Sunday school to raise money to send sandals to those in need in Sudan.
“All the sudden she had this epiphany or revelation with [Marisa’s mother] Maggie in the church,” said Rich Monbrod, Marisa’s father.
An energetic little girl who loves to play the piano, swim and recently started golf lessons, Marisa was diagnosed with leukemia in January 2005.
She continues to undergo treatment and her health has been improving. The Make a Wish Foundation grants wishes for children with life-threatening diseases.
The plan is for Marisa and her family, which includes parents Rich and Maggie and little brother, Ricky, 8, to head out July 11 for the Appalachian Dream Center, a group dedicated to helping provide food, education, services and other basic needs to the Appalachian community.
The center is in Logan, W.Va., an area hit hard by the collapse of the area’s coal mining industry, according to the Appalachian Dream Center Web site. The population of the area is about 26,000. The average income is $7,900 annually and the poverty rate is about 27 percent, according to the Web site.
The Monbrod family hopes to provide a little help to the poverty-stricken region while also providing “a little bit of adventure” for the family, Rich Monbrod said.
Both Rich and Maggie Monbrod said they were surprised and a little skeptical when their daughter first brought up her wish.
Although it was unconventional, the parents quickly got behind the idea. In a way, the wish is a sort of thank you for all the support Marisa received during her fight with leukemia, Rich Monbrod said.
“She’s paying it forward for all the kindness done to her,” he said.
Please send your donations to or contact:
Operation Compassion
Donnie W. Smith, D.Min., Executive Director of Care Division
David Lorency, President
Tim Burdashaw, Int’l. Operations Coordinator
Lisa Boen, Int’l. Logistics Coordinator
114 Stuart Road, NE Suite 370
Cleveland, TN 37312
423.728.3932 Office
423.728.3958 Fax
www.operationcompassion.org [1]