Wish granting partners, Michael and Lori Gross have been married 5 years and have a 3-year-old little girl named Genevieve. Michael grew up in Colorado and moved to Tulsa 12 years ago to go to school. Four years after his move to Oklahoma, he met Lori. Meanwhile, Lori was born in Pittsburgh, Kansas, grew up in Northeast Oklahoma and later attended Tulsa Community Col-lege, then Oklahoma State University. Michael and Lori currently reside in Tulsa and volunteer for the Founda-tion in their spare time. Michael is a Branch Manager at Arvest Bank, while Lori is an Assistant Real Estate Manager for CB Richard Ellis.
Michael said, “We feel it is important to give back to the community and once learning about the Make-A-Wish Foundation®, we knew it was there we wanted to help.” Both say they learned quickly how common the misconception is that we only grant wishes to terminal kids.
Lori says her favorite part about volunteering is interacting and learning about their wish kids. Recently, they surprised one of their wish kids for her birthday. They stopped by the home, bringing Hannah Montana gifts and several other goodies. “Her reaction was priceless. It was so much fun,” Lori said. Lori also thinks the best advice to give other wish granters is to be patient. “ This is something we have had to remind ourselves to do. Obtaining the proper signatures and information can take time so don’t become frustrated and keep after it!”
Michael and Lori are currently working on their second wish, with their first leav-ing for Disney World this month. In a short time, Michael and Lori have become fabulous Tulsa volunteers. “I know I can depend on them when I assign a wish child to Michael and Lori. They ask lots of great questions, which in turn, has made them excellent volunteers!” said Katie Ray, Volunteer Manager.