Fulfilling Alberta Dreams
Featured Photo: Alberta Dreams
For this December issue, we sat down with McKenzie Kapitaniuk, Events and Marketing Coordinator at Alberta Dreams. McKenzie coordinates all the marketing initiatives and events for Alberta Dreams throughout the year. We also interviewed Chris Scheetz, Director of Fund and Community Engagement for Alberta Dreams. He helps raise awareness about the organization and encourages involvement, whether it be for children who need dreams or people who can help fulfill those dreams.
Can you share the story behind how Alberta Dreams started and what inspired its creation?
“Alberta Dreams started in 1986 under the original name of Rainbow Society of Alberta, and the goal was to bring a strong support system for sick children in Alberta. After a few years, the organization decided that it needed a rebrand in terms of the name. So in 2023, the Rainbow Society became Alberta Dreams, which is what we are today. During this change, the organization's mission remained the same: to give the gift of hope by fulfilling dreams for children in Alberta with severe, chronic, or life-threatening illnesses. Along with that, we also just wanted a name that would better touch on what we do as an organization.”
What is the core mission of Alberta Dreams, and who do you primarily serve or support?
“At Alberta Dreams, our mission is to give the gift of hope by fulfilling dreams for children in Alberta diagnosed with severe, chronic, or life-threatening medical illnesses. So we provide dreams to children between the ages of 3 and 18 years of age.”
How are Dreams selected, and how many are fulfilled each year?
“We have a referral process that can be found on our website. Anyone can refer a child as long as they meet the requirements and as long as the parent is made aware of that as well. [In terms of selection], it really depends; as long as the dream meets the requirements of our organization, it does get accepted. Then Alicia, [a member] within our organization, usually goes and meets the dream families and has a discussion with them, gets to know them a little bit better, and hears about each of the dreams that they may want, and then a presentation has to be made to our board, just to kind of go over the dreams. From there, one of the dreams is selected. In terms of how many [dreams] we fulfill each year, we try to increase the number. So last year, we fulfilled about 30 dreams. This year, we're hoping to get to 35, and then next year is actually our 40th anniversary, so we're hoping to be able to fulfill 40 dreams.”
What’s the highest number of Dreams you have fulfilled?
“In total, we have fulfilled over 1,231 dreams in the 39 years of the organization, and to a tune of over $5 million worth of dreams. And one thing to add to the dreams and where they happen, they happen all over the province of Alberta, and there's been 320 separate communities in Alberta that have had a dream in them. It's not just in Edmonton or Calgary, but it's literally province-wide.”
Can you share a recent success story or dream that you are especially proud of and that has made an impact in the community?
Chris: “There are so many that really stand out, but the one that really stands out right now is a young boy by the name of Linc. Linc had a brain tumor when he was a child, and he had it removed. He's 12 years old now, and he's doing incredibly well. But his dream, because he had spent time at both the Stollery Children's Hospital and the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, was to help other children out. With his dream, he wanted to purchase PlayStations for the Stollery Children's Hospital and the Alberta Children's Hospital so other kids could have something to do while they were at the hospital, because he knew when he was there, he had nothing to do at that time. So it's such a selfless dream, and it was just kind of a pay-it-forward thing, and so Linc’s story really stands out as something incredible, or, you know, kids helping other kids is just so powerful.”
McKenzie: “We did have one of our previous dream children, Ella. She's grown now, and she is actually working for our organization, which has been a really special opportunity to have her, so that's been really, really great, just like a full circle moment to have her get a dream and then come back.”
What types of volunteer roles are available, and what kind of tasks might someone expect to do?
“It really depends on the event for what volunteers would be doing. Sometimes we just need booth volunteers, other times, for example, for our golf tournament that we usually put on each year, we need volunteers to come out and just sit at the different holes and help us with the activities or activations that we have. This winter, we're partnering with the YEG Christmas market.”
What qualities or skills do you look for in a volunteer? Is there a minimum age limit to volunteer?
“We're just looking for people who are willing to come out and help and support our organization. For the age limit, I wouldn't say that we have an exact age limit. It really depends. We've had kids come and volunteer as well as adults, so it just depends on the task that they would be doing and if they would have to be a certain age for that.”
How does Alberta Dreams create a sense of community and belonging for its volunteers, but also with the people they interact with?
“For our volunteers, we really just try to make the experience as positive for them as possible. We want them to have a good time and feel an impact while they're with our organization. We want them to come back as well. Some things that we do are provide them with branded volunteer T-shirts while they're volunteering for us, provide them with snacks, lunch, or dinner, depending on the event that they're helping out at, and then also just ensuring that they're receiving enough breaks, especially for longer volunteer days, like when we have our golf tournaments. But the goal really is just to ensure that they're leaving with a positive impact and a good experience.”
What inspires you and your team to continue this work year after year?
“McKenzie mentioned Ella, who was a dream child, who got a dream when she was five years old to go to Disney World. It was a two-week vacation, I believe. And as she puts it, she says, Alberta Dreams gives you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that lasts a lifetime. So again, so many of these families and these children suffer through things that are just so unfair. But to give them a break, to give them hope, to give them, you know, one of these opportunities can really change their lives and change their family's lives, and we've heard that so from our perspective, to actually be able to witness that, it's just so powerful and so rewarding.”
What are your organization’s current priorities, and how can volunteers help achieve them?
“Our priorities are to be the number one dream wish delivering organization in Alberta, and so we can't do that alone. There are only five of us who work for our organization. We're not small, we're scrappy, and we're doing some great things, and we can only do that with the help of volunteers. I call them ambassadors or deputies. If we can get more people involved in the organization and help us at our events and help us spread the word of our organization, that's what we need to become the number one wish-dream delivering organization in Alberta. So volunteers are a huge key component of this, because we don't have a lot of people working for the organization, so we need others to join us as well.”
What’s the best way for students to get started if they want to volunteer with Alberta Dreams?
“I think if students are just looking to start getting involved, a great spot to start would be to visit our website and look at any upcoming events we have. We also have a volunteer form on our website as well that anyone interested can fill out. And then, as we have events coming up, I'll reach out to those people and see if the dates and opportunity work for them. Another great tool is just following us on social media. We usually create posts for any volunteer opportunities that we're looking for on there as well.”
Do you have any events that you would like to promote?
“The 100 moms and 100 dads campaign is something that we're promoting. We're looking for families to possibly be part of 100 moms, 100 dads, and contribute that way. So they can find out more information about that on our website.”
Thanks for reading our NFP Feature! We’re here to shine a light on Edmonton’s not-for-profit sector and help students discover new ways to get involved. Have questions, ideas, or an organization you think we should feature?
Share them with us at anpa@ualberta.ca
