Make-A-Wish helps Cresco boy become firefighter for a day
Some kids want to go to Disney World, or meet a celebrity they idolize.
Given the opportunity for one big request, 4-year-old Kenzie Moore wanted to become a firefighter.
That’s an “occupational wish,” said Maggie O’Brien, the Scranton-based regional manager for Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Moore, who lives in Cresco, has leukemia.
His cousin, a junior firefighter, has “always showed him her gear, talks about it, shows pictures. He instantly fell in love with the whole idea, wanting to save people,” said Carol Soltren, Kenzie’s mother.
“And it got more so once he got sick. He wanted to help people like everybody was helping him,” she said.
The Marshalls Creek Fire Co. — with the assistance of the Bushkill, Shawnee and Delaware Water Gap departments, along with the Monroe County Office of Emergency Management — went all-out to give Kenzie the full firefighting experience on Saturday afternoon.
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He and his family arrived to find the parking lot full of fire engines. Inside the station, Kenzie was given his own firefighting gear by Eugene Berry Sr., president and assistant chief of the fire company.
Kenzie suited up outside on a fire truck before the vehicles took off, lights and sirens on, to parade through the community.
When he arrived back at the station, it was time to put his skills to test and extinguish a real fire. Berry and his colleagues helped Kenzie train a firehose on a flaming stack of pallets, which he thoroughly sprayed down.
“Mom, I’m making a lake!” Kenzie announced.
Back inside the station, he received a toy fire truck and rescue vehicles, as well as real patches, shirts and other gear from local fire departments. Berry presented Kenzie with a certificate of honorary membership in the Marshalls Creek Fire Co.
Saturday wasn’t the first time the firefighting community came together to support Kenzie and his family. At this year’s annual memorial service held by Monroe County fire companies, the usual beneficiaries — the Pocono Township Ladies Auxiliary and the Salvation Army — gave the money raised in a freewill offering back to the family.
“And our usual $225, $250 offering became $943 for the family,” Berry said.
Seeing Kenzie’s big smile and hearing him ask to blow the fire engine’s horn was a solid day’s work for Berry.
“I’m wiped out. I’m done. I brought a smile to a kid’s face and gave him a day of enjoyment. I’m happy. My boys are happy, my captain over there,” Berry said.
He turned away to Kenzie, who had taken off his firefighting uniform and was wearing dark pants, a short-sleeved white shirt and his badge, just like Berry.
“Hey, McKenzie! Hey, Tank!” he yelled across the station, using the boy’s nickname. “We look alike now! Look, I got the badge. You have a badge!”
“He’s going to be talking about this for a very long time. I really feel like this helped him in a lot of ways. I feel like this helped his journey a lot,” Soltren said.
Check out our TikTok page for extra content from Kenzie's special day!
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Make-A-Wish helps Poconos child become firefighter for a day
