[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 82 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1025-E1026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SUNSHINE FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF SERVICE AND 21,000 DREAMS

                                 ______


                            HON. DAVE WELDON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 1996

  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, in 1976, Bill Sample had a dream. 
Today, that dream is marking its 20th anniversary and 21,000 special 
children have had their own dreams come true because of him.
  Twenty years ago this November, Sample, then a Philadelphia police 
officer, was assigned to protective duty at a children's hospital. 
Among the patients were a large number of chronically and terminally 
ill children suffering from such afflictions as cancer, cystic fibrosis 
and kidney disease.
  Sample came to know many of the children as well as their families 
who had been drained financially and emotionally. Sample reasoned that 
the couldn't do anything to make the children physically better, but, 
just maybe, he could make some of their dreams come true.
  From this idea was born the Sunshine Foundation, the first such 
``dream makers'' organization. Today, the expanding organization, made 
up almost entirely of volunteers, has its home base at the Sunshine 
Foundation's Dream Village in Loughman, Florida, minutes from Orlando. 
Sunshine Foundation has 29 chapters from coast to coast.
  In 1990 the first Dream Village opened on a 21-acre site just minutes 
from Disney World. The Dream Village is a unique facility, specially 
designed for Sunshine's children. It includes a spacious community room 
(complete with game room, fireplace and other amenities), a fully 
handicapped-accessible playground and swimming pool, an orange grove 
and seven individually designed family cottages.
  In all of the seven cottage, each of the children's bedrooms has been 
decorated with an animated ``fantasy theme'' which adds to the magic of 
the experience.
  The Sunshine Foundation has brought a ray of sunshine to children 
afflicted with a variety of conditions including cancer, cystic 
fibrosis, leukemia, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and heart 
defects. The foundation recently decided to include children who have 
been physically and/or sexually abused.
  When the Sunshine Foundation provides children with their dream to 
visit central Florida attractions, they are accompanied by their 
immediate family. The children and their families are housed at the 
Dream Village with all expenses paid for by the foundation.
  Dreams are limited only by the children's imaginations. These have 
included meeting celebrities, special vacations, gifts of computers, as 
well as attending such events as the Super Bowl and World Series.
  In order to accommodate larger numbers of less seriously ill 
children, the Sunshine Foundation established ``Dreamlifts.'' To date, 
47 Dreamlifts on 59 chartered planes have taken more than 8,000 
children from special schools, hospitals and institutions all over the 
country to Disney World or Disneyland. Sunshine provides 
transportation, admission, meals and souvenirs.
  In 1981, the Sunshine Foundation added one more ingredient to its 
``dream'' program. Children with Hutchinson-Gilford Syndrome, better 
known as Progeria, and their families were flown to the United States 
from all over the world for a reunion. Progeria is an extremely rare 
affliction characterized by premature aging.
  This assembly enables the children to interact with their peers and 
reduces their sense of isolation while allowing parents and siblings an 
opportunity to share experiences and mutual concerns. To date, Sunshine 
has sponsored 14 annual reunions and has another one scheduled for this 
month.
  On its 20th anniversary, the Sunshine Foundation has a record to be 
proud of: answering the dreams and wishes of more than 21,000 
chronically and terminally ill children from all 50 States and many 
foreign countries.
  Mr. Sample's dream of helping terminally and chronically ill children 
to realize their dreams has become a reality through the

[[Page E1026]]

good work of the Sunshine Foundation. I commend the Sunshine Foundation 
of 20 years of unselfish giving.

                          ____________________