Once children reach their teenage years, they often dream of a brand new vehicle to call their own. Bill's dream was a special one—he wanted an old vehicle. And he wanted to rebuild it.

It was supposed to be a father and son activity. Last year, while Bill was going through treatments at the local children’s hospital, he and his dad talked about finding a truck — a "fixer-upper" — they could work on before Bill’s senior year at Hopewell High School in Aliquippa, Penn. They found their dream truck, a 1980 Chevy 4x4, which had little mileage but had been sitting outside for years. Bill and his father had just begun the process of looking for parts when Bill was referred to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In order to fulfill Bill’s wish to refurbish his truck, the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® of Western Pennsylvania requested the help of United Auto Workers and General Motors representatives from the GM Corporation Metal Fabricating Division in West Mifflin, Penn. They went to work immediately to provide parts for the body of the truck. Longtime local donor Casey Harper Chevrolet had the unenviable task of putting it all back together, which they did in just 16 days.

The truck was unveiled to a teary-eyed Bill at the GM plant in front of family, friends and representatives from UAW-GM. Bill was speechless—he couldn’t believe this was the same truck he and his father began working on just a few months earlier. As a remembrance of his special day, one of the old doors from the original truck was signed by all the people involved in making Bill’s wish a reality. It was presented to Bill, along with an official GM leather jacket. Finally, so he would have somewhere to drive his refurbished truck, the Western Pennsylvania chapter presented Bill with two tickets to a Pittsburgh Steelers football game.

Bill’s wish was yet another example how a child, family, volunteers, donors, and everyone else involved in a wish experience is touched and inspired by the ripple effect of a wish.