{"id":979,"date":"2019-11-12T08:57:12","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T13:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/?p=979"},"modified":"2019-12-12T08:55:30","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T13:55:30","slug":"whitakers-wish-comes-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/whitakers-wish-comes-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitaker’s Wish Coming True"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

4-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Uses Make-A-Wish for Playground<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Kate Casper<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe does not want to go to Disney; he does not want to meet Tom Brady. He says to the Make-A-Wish team, \u2018all I want is to run across the street and play in the park with my pals,\u2019\u201d said Walter White, an Alexandrian helping lead the fundraising effort for a young boy\u2019s wish to build a playground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four-year-old Whitaker Weinburger is no ordinary Alexandria kid–he is a Stage Four neuroblastoma survivor. In early September, Whitaker made national news when hundreds of strangers and community members surprised him for his fourth birthday, his first healthy birthday. His mother, Erin Weinburger, said, \u201c[I was] absolutely stunned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Seth Weinburger carries Whitaker in the background. Photo by Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Over 200 yellow cars, buses, and trucks lined the streets of the Charles Barrett neighborhood to celebrate Whitaker\u2019s beloved Transformer character, Bumblebee. People poured in by the dozens to join in on the yellow parade on Whitaker\u2019s morning walk to preschool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Weinburgers learned Whitaker was eligible for a wish from the Make-A-Wish Midatlantic team, \u201cWe certainly considered going on a trip somewhere, and that\u2019s awesome\u2026[but] at the end, we realized he just wanted to go outside and go to the park,\u201d said Whitaker\u2019s father, Seth Weinburger at an October 9 fundraising event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one trip to the playground, Whitaker\u2019s dad said, \u201cThat was the first time he ever really went up and asked somebody, \u2018will you be my friend?\u2019 When we started thinking about this wish, we wanted…something that he could use to be a normal kid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a neighborhood Facebook group held a back-to-school event, everybody met at the park. \u201cThat\u2019s what this park means, not just to us, but to [all] the people that live around us,\u201d said Seth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only has the park facilitated Whitaker\u2019s social growth, but it has helped him strengthen his body after years of hospitalizations, treatments, chemotherapy, and radiation. \u201cWhitaker spent very long stretches of time inside the walls of the hospital, so it was such a big treat for him to be able to play outside in between chemo rounds…As he recovered and felt less crummy, he spent more and more time at the park, learning to climb and discovering that his little legs could run and jump,\u201d said Erin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rendering for Whitaker’s playground.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The new park will revamp the old Woodbine Tot Lot at 1509 Woodbine Street in Alexandria; the new play structure design features brightly colored slides, swings, monkey bars, and a rock climbing wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThis is the start of a fundraising campaign. We have a long way to go…We\u2019re going to get there,\u201d said Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic CEO and fellow Alexandrian Lesli Creedon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alexandria Department  of Parks and Recreation issued a $25,000 challenge grant to raise money for the estimated $75,000 playground. Between $7,500 raised by patrons and $15,000 collectively contributed by Jack Taylor\u2019s Alexandria Toyota and Lindsey Automotive Group of Alexandria, the $25,000 match is within grasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Taylor, son of Jack Taylor, said he was inspired by Whitaker\u2019s selfless initiative, saying, \u201cWe feel extremely fortunate we could play a role in making his wish a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s so amazing about this…is that this is not an experience that is going to be fleeting; this is something that is going to benefit our community for generations to come…I\u2019m super excited,\u201d Mayor Justin Wilson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitaker is not the only \u201cwish kid\u201d in Alexandria. Creedon said since accepting the position at Make-A-Wish, she learned that within a mile of her Del Rey residence, 5 children had gotten their wishes granted in the 12 months prior. Her own son is a \u201cwish kid\u201d; diagnosed with childhood Leukemia, his wish was granted last July, going on a trip to the Maldives and seeing the Bioluminescent Sea to celebrate his successful transplant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor us, it was something that during his whole treatment, months in isolation, and out-of-school–it was something we looked forward to,\u201d said Creedon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More and more doctors are viewing the wish as part of the treatment and recovery for any child with a life-threatening illness or disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Whitaker\u2019s family, this wish is a way for him to foster friendships, get outside, and celebrate being a normal kid–a kid who loves baseball, singing, dancing, playing with his sisters, and, of course, Transformers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Make-A-Wish team is shooting for Spring 2020 to begin renovating the park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Whitaker\u2019s wish is a wish for Alexandria, for himself, his family, and for the hundreds of kids and parents who frequent the Woodbine Tot Lot. Erin Weinburger said that the day after his birthday, on the way to school, Whitaker \u201chilariously threw both hands up in the air, tipped his head sideways, and asked, \u2018where did all the bumblebees go?\u2019\u201d Well, it seems those bumblebees have gone to build him a park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are interested in donating to Whitaker\u2019s Wish click the link here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe does not want to go to Disney; he does not want to meet Tom Brady. He says to the Make-A-Wish team, \u2018all I want is to run across the street and play in the park with my pals,\u2019\u201d said Walter White, an Alexandrian helping lead the fundraising effort for a young boy\u2019s wish to build a playground. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1211,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions\/1211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}