Senior wishes

MOSES LAKE — Robert Poindexter wants to grant senior citizens one wish.

“There is magic once people know they are valued,” said Poindexter, community service specialist of Aging and Adult care of Central Washington. “A little joy can go on forever.”

Poindexter is also a representative of Wishmasters, a non-profit organization operating under the auspices of Aging and Adult Care. Founded in 2007, Wishmasters grants one wish to people 65 and older. Clients fill out an application and write a couple lines about why they want their wish.

Past requests include baseball tickets, fixing a car, traveling to see family and fishing trips.

“The most rewarding day I’ve had was delivering baseball tickets to a 68-year-old lady,” Poindexter said. “We sent her and a friend to a game and I loved being a part of that.”

Wishmasters doesn’t fulfill desires to travel to dangerous or exotic places and it cannot purchase items such as boats, cars, planes, medical equipment, procedures or shopping carts, according to a Wishmasters brochure.

Poindexter settled into retirement when he got a call from Aging and Adult Care’s executive director Bruce Buckles. Buckles heard of a Wishmasters program in Oregon and wanted to bring it to Moses Lake.

“When hearing about the program, I thought it was a really cool thing and wanted to be a part of it,” Poindexter said.

It took about 18 months for the program to get started.

“We were calling people trying to get donations,” Poindexter said.

It now serves six counties, including Grant, Chelan, Douglas, Adams, Lincoln and Okanogan.

Wishmasters relies on donations, volunteers and in-kind gifts. In-kind gifts are businesses or people freely giving their services or time to fulfill a wish, explained Poindexter.

“We are up and running but there is still a lot to do; we are in the growing process now,” Poindexter said. “I’ve been to 12 places asking for support, numerous clubs and the Othello Police Department.”

Judy Mosier, 66, was the first senior citizen to have a wish granted.

“They were like angels to me,” Mosier said. “I’d been going through such a hard time with sickness and bad things happening to me. It was great to finally have something good happen.”

Mosier suffers from bad health. Her spirits became low after her car was broken into. Her review mirror and driver’s side window were broken and her steering wheel locked. Work from some repair shops damaged a tire and furthered her problems.

Unable to fix her car after it was vandalized, she turned to Wishmasters after an Aging and Adult Care worker referred her to the program.

“There was a waiting period because they had just started,” Mosier said. “Eventually I heard back from them and they made arrangements for my car to be fixed.”

Wishmasters came to Mosier’s home with a certificate and flowers.

“A lot of society doesn’t value older people anymore,” Mosier said. “It was hard to believe there were these wonderful people in the world.”

Her car was taken to Town Toyota of East Wenatchee and Les Schwab for repairs.

“There was no way Judy could have afforded any of this on her own,” Poindexter said. “She was really glad to receive help.”

Poindexter said Wishmasters focuses on this age group because they are the most neglected.

“You don’t find too many people going to nursing homes to visit,” Poindexter said. “There is a big need for people to care for older folks.”

Most wishes are for a similar purpose.

“They just want to do something with family,” Poindexter said. “Often there is distance between family members and they just want to get to them.”

Poindexter hopes to expand Wishmasters.

“I’d love to have it statewide,” he said. “I think it will catch on because it is so good.”

Aging and Adult Care of Central Washington is located at 1336 S. Pioneer Way, Suite 103.

For more information, call 800-572-4459.