Readers’ generosity may bring half a million in aid to South Florida’s neediest

Howard Cohen
·7 min read

When all the donations are counted for the Miami Herald Charities’ 42nd annual Wish Book holiday program, the 2023 season could top half a million dollars.

If the Miami Herald/el Nuevo Herald Wish Book scores $500,000 or more, that would be a record amount. The current record was set in 2020, when readers delivered $496,000 to help some South Floridians in need. The in-kind pledges for some big-ticket items like labor and materials for home repairs and housing assistance still need to come through for the 2023 campaign, said Wish Book coordinator Roberta DiPietro.

From the Thanksgiving start of Wish Book season to just after the new year, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald journalists and Florida International University student contributors shared about 20 stories.

This year about 800 readers sent money, pledges, items and offers of services after learning about some of the 180 individuals or families who had been nominated by South Florida charitable groups.

Pledges and cash donations

Many of the pledges or gifts of services focused on a theme of the 2023 campaign: helping those most affected by the affordable housing shortage in Miami-Dade. Some also needed help in obtaining costly medical equipment or furnishings or securing expensive home repairs, like a new roof.

To date, DiPietro said more than $280,000 in cash donations, plus another $10,000 in donations that arrived by mail on Tuesday, has been received. For cash donations, this figure is less than an average year of around $350,000.

“However, a huge increase in non-cash donations stands out,” DiPietro said, noting promises of hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor and materials for home repairs, and to provide housing assistance, as well as the purchase of medical supplies and equipment and a variety of other support for Wish Book recipients.

Once some of these large wishes are fulfilled from pending offers, the value of donations is estimated to exceed $500,000, DiPietro said.

“We are still collecting funds to assist our families. Many donors are waiting to assist when detailed quotes for items are secured before committing to specific dollar amounts. These commitments represent the outpouring of support and empathy from our readers to help their needy neighbors. It is inspiring to know that each year so many are feeling the generous spirit to support our nominees that are in such need,” DiPietro said.

Happy stories

READ MORE: The North Miami home his parents built in 1957 is aging poorly. It needs a new roof

▪ Readers learned about Kenneth Heller when his story ran just after Christmas.

At 78, he has lived in the North Miami home his family built in 1957 for more than 65 years.

After breaks to join the Marines in 1968, marry and start a family and then divorce, earn a law degree in the 1970s, and work for a firm until it was sold in 1988, Heller moved back into the family home in 1987 to become his mother’s caretaker. She died in 1999.

He’s still there, his health is declining, and the home is ailing. The leaky roof hasn’t been changed since 1984. Blue tarp covers gaping holes but water finds its way through the flimsy obstacle.

According to DiPietro, a roofer and a generous donor are teaming with other donors to do a total renovation of the roof and the house. The North Miami Foundation for Senior Services is assisting in coordinating the efforts.

▪ Katrina Faust received a new wheelchair worth $3,098 from an anonymous donor. That donor told the Wish Book coordinator that he didn’t need anything for Christmas so he purchased this gift for Faust instead.

Katrina Faust, who has multiple sclerosis, is worn out at the end of her work day. A power wheelchair would conserve some of her energy and restore some of her independence.
Katrina Faust, who has multiple sclerosis, is worn out at the end of her work day. A power wheelchair would conserve some of her energy and restore some of her independence.

That donor learned about Faust through a story that ran in early December. Faust, a physical therapist assistant who lives in North Miami, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013. At 53, Faust, who was active in cycling and boxing, still practices physical therapy, a career she’s held for nearly a quarter century.

The donor recently had physical therapy for a knee replacement so he said he “knows what she does as a PT and how wonderful it is that she helps people,” DiPietro said.

“I love what I do, I love working with patients. I think [MS] has given me a different perspective because I’m kind of a patient myself,” Faust told the Herald in December. “I liked working with neurological patients before this even happened to me — I just didn’t expect to become one.”

Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that leads the immune system to attack the body’s nerves and impacts the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, which make up the central nervous system that controls all of our daily functions, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. There is no cure.

Marcia Harris, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation’s program coordinator, nominated Faust for Wish Book. She realized the foundation didn’t have grants large enough to pay for a wheelchair that fit her particular needs.

Harris told the Herald that Faust was delighted with her new gift. “She was crying. I was crying. It was just wonderful,” Harris said.

Faust is adjusting to the chair, too. “I can lift it in and out of the car, which is something I wanted to keep my independence. It folds and unfolds very easy too. Running great!” Harris said Faust told her.

▪ Roy Burger, another client of the foundation nominated by Harris, was diagnosed with MS in 2007. Burger’s holiday wish was for a new dining room table and chairs from Rooms to Go because the weathered set at the Pompano Beach home he shares with his wife Erin and their two children is counter height and was purchased before his MS made it necessary to start using a scooter to get around.

Roy Burger and his wife Erin at the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation in December 2023. Burger has multiple sclerosis and the scooter he needs to get around, plus years of family wear and tear, makes their dining set at home a poor fit. Burger hopes to get a new set via Wish Book but is already grateful with the $600 Miami Herald Charities sent his way so far.

He also hoped for a laptop and a trailer hitch for his 2020 Dodge Caravan.

So far, Burger, 50, has received $600 in gift cards from Miami Herald Charities as he awaits word on whether the dining set or trailer hitch comes through, Harris said.

“He was just blown away at the dollar amount that they got ... he was very thankful,” Harris said. Burger bought a laptop so far.

“We’re just so thankful because we’re one organization and we service the entire United States. And this is only, of course, Broward and Dade County. So when someone applies to us our grants are in the smaller amount so we can service a lot of people. So this is huge. When someone can get something like this we’re just so thankful,” Harris said.

▪ Lucas Salazar, 5, was a toddler in 2019 when he was diagnosed at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood with high-risk lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The affected bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, according to the National Cancer Institute.

After years of treatments, including a bone marrow transplant, Lucas is reportedly cancer-free.

Lucas hoped for a new bed and a PlayStation 5 Spider-Man game from Wish Book readers.

“I know it’s material things, but sometimes that which seems perhaps insignificant fills you with joy,” his mom, Jessica Encalada, told the Herald in November. “It means a lot to see Lucas happy.”

Over the holidays after their story ran, Encalada sent the Wish Book team a photo of her son in a new, blue turbo race car twin bed he received from a donor.

Lucas Salazar, 5, in his new turbo racing car bed that he received from a Wish Book donor in 2023. Lucas, who lives with his family in Weston, has undergone extensive treatment after being diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia in 2019.
Lucas Salazar, 5, in his new turbo racing car bed that he received from a Wish Book donor in 2023. Lucas, who lives with his family in Weston, has undergone extensive treatment after being diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia in 2019.

READ MORE: He was just a toddler when he began difficult leukemia treatment. Now he’s cancer-free

Gratitude

John Deandre, 13, is being raised by his great grandparents Evie and Rupert Lounges in Lauderdale Lakes. His great grandmother’s photo shows some of the holiday presents, including a PlayStation, comforter set and clothing, he received this year from Wish Book donors.
John Deandre, 13, is being raised by his great grandparents Evie and Rupert Lounges in Lauderdale Lakes. His great grandmother’s photo shows some of the holiday presents, including a PlayStation, comforter set and clothing, he received this year from Wish Book donors.

“We are deeply grateful to the generous individuals and organizations who donated to our Wish Book program this holiday season,” said Alex Mena, executive editor for the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

“Countless members of the South Florida community selflessly stepped up to fulfill critical needs through cash donations, labor, materials and services. What makes me most proud is that even during these challenging economic times, so many people banded together to support our neighbors in need,” Mena said. “The Wish Book program lifts people up and transforms lives, and we could not achieve this important work without the shared compassion demonstrated by all those who gave.”

Brigite Valverde was 23 when she lost part of her left arm in a meat grinder accident in Bolivia in 2022. She holds some Walmart gift cards she received in the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald’s Wish Book 2023 season. She’s awaiting word on whether she may receive a functioning prosthetic arm as donors assess estimated cost quotes.
Brigite Valverde was 23 when she lost part of her left arm in a meat grinder accident in Bolivia in 2022. She holds some Walmart gift cards she received in the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald’s Wish Book 2023 season. She’s awaiting word on whether she may receive a functioning prosthetic arm as donors assess estimated cost quotes.

READ MORE: She lost her hand in an accident and feels like an outcast. She needs a prosthetic

How to help

To continue helping the nominees of 2023:

▪ To donate, use the coupon found in the newspaper or pay securely online through www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

▪ For more information, call 305-376-2906 or email Wishbook@MiamiHerald.com

▪ Read all Wish Book stories on www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook