When Adriana was in the hospital for the hundredth time in the past 14 years, she was bored. She was tired of watching television and movies. She was tired of her iPad and computer games. She was bored with being stuck in the hospital and tired of her options. 

So she decided to create her own options – and started to make a list of what would keep her from being bored. Then she decided to take it to the next step – to figure out how to share her ideas with other kids in the hospital. 

“I have been in the hospital a lot and one of the things I remember most is being bored,” said Adriana, now 14. Her cancer, which has affected her since around her first birthday, has meant being in and out of hospitals consistently every few years. 

“When I was told that I was eligible for a wish, I thought that it was the perfect way to start a nonprofit that would help me with idea to create baskets of items that would help kids in the hospital from being bored,” said Adriana. “And then COVID hit.”

COVID meant that even with the creation of her non-profit, new restrictions on visitors would stop her from bringing her baskets to the kids in the hospital – her main audience. So, like the rest of the world, Adriana, pivoted her idea so she could make the most of her wish options. 

“I knew I couldn’t go into the hospitals but what if I set everything up now, so that as soon as I could go in to the hospitals, I would be ready,” said Adriana. And a wish idea became reality.

Adriana’s wish was a shopping spree – one that included lumber and roofing so that she could create her own free-standing office, a shed on her family’s property that now houses all of the items she collects and will distribute when it is safe to do so. 

“I asked for paneling, flooring, windows, doors, and roofing, a desk, chair, even a coffee maker and popcorn machine,” said Adriana. “My dad put it all together and now I have an office to get started.”

Adriana’s idea – Ring A Belle Baskets – will include things like art supplies, craft ideas, snacks that taste good even when you are on chemo (something she knows a lot about), cards and even electronic gaming systems and games. She included some of those items in her shopping spree as well. 

“When I envisioned my wish, I knew I wanted it to focus on how I could help others like me, really get to know the kids and give them something that will keep their mind off why they are in the hospital so they can focus on the good,” said Adriana. “My wish helped me to focus on my future and what I wanted to do when I was out of the hospital, done with treatment.”

Plus, there was the joy of the wish day itself – a day of ordering things online with a very large budget, having her favorite Red Lobster lunch delivered and planning a great future with her family and her Make-A-Wish Arizona wish manager. It was all done on her 14th birthday, making it extra special. 

“I want to help other kids, just like Make-A-Wish helped me,” said Adriana. “I want to give them that same feeling that someone cares about them and their happiness.”